PCPL History

The first library in Pike County was founded in 1874 as the Milford Lyceum and Reading Room, a time when Pike County was largely undeveloped with a resident population of some 9,000 people spread across some 547 square miles of land area.

When fire destroyed the first Library building in 1899, the Library was relocated to its present location, The Milford Community House (the "Pinchot Homestead") in 1901. The Library began its operation with 1,200 new books donated by James W. Pinchot, "specially purchased in New York City by Reverend C.B. Carpenter." In 1928, the Library was designated as a county institution by the County Board of Commissioners who set an annual appropriation of $500.00. The Library began accepting state aid funds in 1931 as provided by a state law adopted under Governor Pinchot.

During the early period of the Library’s operation, agriculture, forestry, and summer tourism fueled Pike County's economy and the Milford-Matamoras area held the largest concentration of population. The Borough of Milford serves as the County Seat, and the Library by its very nature of serving county residents, was developed in the area with the greatest concentration of population.

The Library did however, through the years, maintain branches throughout the County, including branches in private homes in Dingmans Ferry, Bushkill, Paupack, and Lackawaxen, with later branches in Matamoras, Shohola and Blooming Grove. In 1961, the Library maintained a collection of 15,000 books, but only the Dingmans Ferry, Paupack, and Shohola branches remained. By 1971, only the Dingmans Ferry branch remained. The current system has branches in Milford, Lackawaxen Township and Dingman Township.