Local History
original Library Building
on Washington St
Tenafly's first Mayor
Henry B. Palmer
Beer Bottle
from Paul Keissel Tenafly Bottling Comany
Tenafly Train Station
as depicted on commemorative plate
Elizabeth Cady Stanton
Tenafly resident and Suffragette
My Tenafly Bookcase Mural
painted by Alice Renner Rigney, 2001
Presented as a gift to the library by the Tenafly High School class of 1946 & on permanent display in the library.Â
​
My Tenafly Bookcase, a trompe l'oeil mural, located in the reception area of the Library, features books about Tenafly or written by Tenafly authors. It also includes three dimensional items representative of historic Tenafly.
​
Top shelf left:
Inkwell and pen used by George Price, long-time cartoonist for The New Yorker. Pen and ink drawing of Mr. Price's home in Tenafly, the Roelof Westervelt house which is on the State and National Register of historic places.
​
Top shelf middle:
Picture of the building that housed the Tenafly Public Library from 1912 - 1963, which stood on the south side of Washington Avenue near Tenafly Road.
​
Top shelf right:
Silver Loving Cup was won by Elmer Renner for the Handicap Singles in 1922 at the Tenafly Tennis Club.
Tenakins, the high school year books from 1946 and several other years.
Tenafly High School Commencement program with orange and black tassel.
Armatelle plate celebrating the town's 75th Anniversary. Plates were sold to help raise money toward restoring the train station.
​
Middle shelf:
Portrait of Tenafly's first Mayor, Henry B. Palmer, who served from 1894-1895 and 1897-1899.
Rolled up house plans.
Advertisement, from prior to 1900, for a "rare opportunity" to invest in Tenafly real estate.
Ornament depicting the Roosevelt Monument, the Railroad Station and the World War Monument helped raise money to restore the Roosevelt Monument.
​
Bottom shelf - middle left:
Beer bottle from the Paul Keissel Tenafly Bottling Company which was located on Dean Drive (formerly known as Front Street) behind the location where the Clinton Inn now stands.Â
​
Bottom shelf - right:
Depiction of the original cover of The Ballot Box Battle by Emily Arnold McCully which is about suffragette and social activist, Elizabeth Cady Stanton. The original painting of the cover is on display in the Children's Room of the Library.
​
Tenafly Digital Archive
Learn more about the history of the Tenafly Library and the Borough of Tenafly.
View the Tenafly Library Digital Archive - sponsored by the Tenafly Library Friends.
The digital archive includes historic photos and documents related to the history of and life in Tenafly. A small sample of photographs is shown in the carousel below but click on the digital archive button to access the full online archive.
The archive includes documents from the Virginia T. Mosley Local History Collection. Virginia Mosley was a Borough Historian who wrote and compiled many documents relating to early Tenafly. Click the links below to find representations of some of those documents in the digital archive.