Our Mission
The mission of the Julia L. Butterfield Memorial Library is to serve the community by providing lifelong learning, information, entertainment, and recreational opportunities.
The Julia L. Butterfield Memorial Library was established in 1913 through the will of Mrs. Butterfield. It is an Association Library and serves the Philipstown community.
The Library operates under New York State Education Law and must meet NYS Library Standards and Guidelines. The Library is part of the Mid-Hudson Library System.
Policies
Please click here to view all Library policies.
Have a question about our policies? Please contact us.
History
Julia L. Butterfield
The Julia L. Butterfield Memorial Library was established through the will of the late Julia L. Butterfield.
Mrs. Butterfield was born on December 19, 1823 on St. Marks' Place in New York City. She moved to Cold Spring in 1852 with her first husband, Frederick James. Until her death on August 6, 1913 at the age of 90, she spent a large portion of her time at her beautiful Cold Spring residence known as "Cragside". Cragside was located on the site of what is now Haldane Central School District's high school building. The gatehouse to Cragside still stands today on the corner of Route 9D (Morris Ave) and Craigside Drive.
Mrs. Butterfield loved to entertain, and her frequent guests included the Grand Duke of Russia, the Count of Paris, presidents of the United States, several governors, famous generals, and bishops.
Many of the paintings that hang in the Library today once hung at Cragside. The most famous is "A Pic-Nic on the Hudson" painted in 1863 by Hudson River School artist Thomas Rossiter. Rossiter also lived in Cold Spring and was a friend of Mrs. Butterfield. Mrs. Butterfield was also gifted a beautiful, ornate sleigh housed at the Putnam History Museum.
WHO'S WHO IN THE PICNIC
(c) 1863 by Hudson River School artist Thomas Rossiter
oil on canvas on display at the Julia L. Butterfield Memorial Library
"A Pic-Nic on the Hudson"
The painting is of friends enjoying a picnic along the Hudson River, near the Village of Cold Spring on Constitution Island. Included in the painting are: Gouverneur Kemble and his brother William Kemble, co-founders of the West Point Foundry; artist Thomas Rossiter and his wife, Mary Sterling; U.S. Military Academy professor and painter Robert W. Weir; poet George Pope Morris; inventor of the Parrott rifle cannon, Robert Parrott; General Gouverneur Kemble Warren, “Savior of Little Round Top", Battle of Gettysburg; and Mr. Frederick P. James and Mrs. Julia James (Butterfield) and their two sons, Frederick J. James and Julian James.
Julia Butterfield is pictured in the white dress with periwinkle sash. Seated next to her is her eldest son, Mr. Frederick J. James. Behind Frederick J. is his father, Mr. Frederick P. James.
The Julia L. Butterfield Memorial Library was established in 1913, through the will of Mrs. Julia L. Butterfield.
The library building was built on the foundation of the Dutch Reformed Church in 1922, with the library doors opening in May of 1925. The library was chartered by the state of New York in 1927.
During the next 80 years, the library happily served our community. In the early 2000s, as the library struggled to provide adequate services, it became obvious that we needed secure funding.
In November of 2006, the library secured funding from Philipstown through a public vote ($276,000 annually).
In May of 2015, the Library passed a successful referendum within the Haldane Central School District ($73,150 annually).