Judge John Handley (1835–1895), an Irish-American coal magnate and lawyer from Scranton, Pennsylvania, visited Winchester several times and admired the city for its Scotch-Irish heritage.

The library opened on August 21, 1913, and originally featured a 300-seat lecture hall, study rooms and conference areas.

[5] Dennis Kowal Architects of Somerville, New Jersey prepared a full historic preservation plan in 1997 and oversaw the comprehensive restoration and rehabilitation in 1999.

[7] The Handley Library is "perhaps Virginia's purest expression of the regal and florid Beaux-Arts classicism.

Two wings flank the dome and feature single-pitched roofs with dormer lights, balustrades and Ionic colonnades.