Langhorne Library Company

The Attleborough Library Company, renamed the Langhorne Library Company after the Langhorne Borough's incorporation in 1876, was chartered by Governor Thomas McKean in 1802. The private, subscription-based library was originally located in a small house in the center of the Bucks County, Pennsylvania village. Anna Mary Williamson, niece of noted Quaker philanthropist Isaiah Vansant Williamson, bequeathed money for a library building to accommodate the rapidly growing collection. After her death in 1887, construction began. The library was the first public building in Bucks County to have electricity.

In 1960, the Langhorne Library was renamed Langhorne-Middletown Library and the four adjacent boroughs -- Langhorne, Langhorne Manor, Penndel and Hulmeville -- joined Middletown Township to support it as a free public library. After the merger of the Langhorne-Middletown Library and Bucks County Free Library, a new building was constructed in 1971, and the library was again renamed the Pennwood Branch of the Bucks County Free Library.

As of 2012, the original 1888 library building serves as a museum and research library for the Historic Langhorne Association.

Bibliography:

Valone, Sally. "Historic Langhorne Library / Historic Langhorne Assn. Headquarters." Langhorne Ledger .

Gleeson, Kristin. Guide to the Manuscript Collections of Five Historical Organizations in Bucks County . 1986.

From the guide to the Langhorne Library Company records, 1800-1971, (Historic Langhorne Association)