These were located in the Watertown High School, St. Joachim's Academy, and the Young Men's Christian Association.

[3] Around 1890 Watertown citizens began discussing a public library and applied to the Carnegie Corporation for funding.

Living in New York City at the time, Emma Flower Taylor discovered the citizens' wish for a new library.

It was a daring thought of the designer to establish such restrictions for artistic inspiration, but the result justifies the idea."

[7] Built in the Grecian style with some Roman features, the library is a two-story, brick, rectangular building faced in marble with a centrally placed octagonal dome.

Fable is surrounded by La Fontaine and Aesop, Religion has St. John and Moses, Lyric has Milton and Virgil, Epic Poetry has Homer and Dante, Science has Darwin and Newton, Drama has Shakespeare and Molière and Romance has Scott and Dumas.

These display areas showcase antiques featuring local author Marietta Holley, as well as items relating to the French emigres who once lived in the north country.

[10] One of the unique components of the original library was its separate Children's Room which was set away from the adult areas and was donated by Mrs. Taylor as a way to commemorate her eldest son who died in infancy.

[9] A Genealogy department, local history archives and meeting rooms are located in the top floor of the building.

In 1909, One of the lions had a tooth broken off and it was jokingly reported that "the big beast never winced when dentist W. W. Puffer did the job".