[4] Due to the windows and the building maintaining its original plan and most of its appearance, it is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

It was named after David Moffat, a native of Washingtonville who later made a fortune in railroads, mining and finance in Colorado and settled in Denver.

In 1885, nearing the age of 50, he decided he wanted to do something for his hometown, and so commissioned the library for the site of his boyhood home, the trading post his father Samuel had established at the crossroads in 1811.

[4] New York architect George Edward Harney designed a building in the then-popular Queen Anne style, to be built of brick made in nearby Goshen.

Flooding from Hurricane Irene and Tropical Storm Lee reached the level of 6 feet (2 m) in the basement, damaging parts of the building's electrical and heating systems.