History

Due to the Port Washington Women's Club (PWWC) determinations in 1899 to inspire the community through reading we are fortunate to celebrate our century mark with the present W.J. Niederkorn Library.

The reading room of the PWWC became the stimulant for the first
library. Its popularity made possible the donated space in the back of the Courtland Drug Store at the SW location of Franklin and Main. The first librarian was Edgar Smith, a druggist.

By 1908, the basement of the Courthouse provided much needed space. Six hundred borrowers frequented the public lilbrary in 1912; 294 children. The PWWC and the city paid the librarian's salary of $300.

After a move to the city hall in the 1920's, the first library board was created. A building fund in the 1930's changed the location of the library to the Wisconsin Street School.

In 1961, donations from W.J. Niederkorn and additional city funds made possible an independent and thriving library open to all residents of Port Washington.

In 1999, we celebrated the contributions once envisioned by the PWWC in the past century. As the "Friends of the Library," our wish is to carry on the solid tradition of the past 100 years.