Jefferson Market Library

An official Path Through History Site! The Jefferson Market Branch of the New York Public Library, still familiar to New Yorkers as the Jefferson Market Courthouse, was originally built as the Third Judicial District Courthouse from 1874 to 1877, and was designed by architect Frederick Clarke Withers of the firm of Vaux and Withers. Faced with demolition in 1958, public outcry led to its reuse as a branch of the New York Public Library. The building contains leaded glass, steeply sloping roofs, gables, pinnacles, Venetian Gothic embellishments, and an intricate tower and clock and is a Greenwich Village landmark.