James Blackstone Memorial Library

Built in 1896, this historic library provides the community with essential access to information, resources and unique shared experiences. James Blackstone (1793-1886) was a farmer, Branford selectman, state senator, and captain of the militia. His son, Timothy, donated $300,000 to the town of Branford to build the library in his honor. The medallion portraits in the dome are Harriet Beecher Stowe, James Russell Lowell, Oliver Wendell Holmes, John Greenleaf Whittier, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Ralph Waldo Emerson, and William Cullen Bryant.

When opened, the library housed a gymnasium in the basement. For many years the library housed a museum. The stuffed birds are now in the Nature Discovery Center in Westport. There are two displays of arrowheads in the Lucy Hammer Room.