The Portville Free Library got its start on March 14, 1857 when a young Vermont school
teacher, Marilla Clark, moved to Portville and married Portville resident William Wheeler.
Marilla soon assembled a collection of her own books plus books donated by local residents
and started an organization originally known as the Portville Library Association. We have
come a long way since those early days.
For the first fifty-three years of its existence, the Portville Library Association had no
dedicated structure in which to store books therefore books were centralized in local homes
or businesses depending on what was available. Library membership was open to anyone in
the village who paid the quarterly dues of twenty-five cents. The last Association location
before moving into the current facility was at the home of Mr. and Mrs. John Phillips, aka
John and Helen, located at 15 North Main Street. Mr. Phillips worked for many years as
coachman and gardener for the Wheeler Family.
In 1909, E.G. Dusenbury purchased the home of Smith Parish on Main Street and donated
the home to the community to be used as a library. The Smith Parish home was built in
1847 in the Georgian Colonial style of architecture and Mr. Dusenbury wanted to maintain,
even enhance, the home’s original beauty. Before turning the building over to the
community, Mr. Dusenbury funded and supervised extensive renovations to the building and
grounds converting it into the beautiful library of today. Mr. Dusenbury continued to donate
funds to the Library as the need arose.
On March 31, 1910, the Library’s absolute charter was granted by the Regents of the
University of the State of New York and the Portville Library Association officially became
the Portville Free Library. The Portville Free Library experienced great support from the
community and responded to the increased usage with major building additions in 1915,
1930, and most recently in 1960. In 1991, the Portville Free Library was recognized for its
community service and placed on the National Register of Historic Places. This distinction
came about through the efforts of a few local citizens including long-time Library Trustee,
Ronda Shaner Pollock.
A more detailed accounting of the Library’s pre-1950 years can be found in a pamphlet
entitled History of the Portville Free Library written by long-time Librarian, Betsey Keene.
