A Brief History

Windsor Public Library began in 1888. The key players in its creation were Miss Martha S. Clapp and Mr. H.E. Sawyer, who was the principal of the Public High School at the time. One hundred and fifty people joined with them and chipped in one dollar each to start the library. The first meeting of the subscribers was held in February of 1888, in the high school room, where the “Windsor Library Association” was formed and a committee of five was elected to manage its affairs. The following April, in 1889, the library opened its doors to the public. It was first located in the office of the Judge of Probate in the Windsor Town Hall. This was the library’s home until 1895, when it was moved to the Academy building on the northeast corner of Broad Street Green. The efforts of local churches helped maintain the library there until 1901, when the Library Association purchased the old homestead of the late General Frederick Ellsworth Mather, which was built by Colonel Oliver Mather in 1777, at the northwest corner of the Green. The library has remained here since. -from A New History of Old Windsor, Connecticut, by Daniel Howard, 1935.    

The Wilson Branch

Under the bequest of Leland P. Wilson, the Wilson Branch Library was constructed in 1965. The building is owned by the Windsor Library Association, which was founded in 1888. Henry Wilson, grandfather to Leland started the Wilson Brick Company in 1812. This building, along with the LP Wilson Community Center, was built using the bricks from that business venture.