About

Our History

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In January of 1935, the Oakfield Free Library was organized with a provisional charter granted on April 26, 1935. The library was housed in the elementary school until 1949, when it was moved to the Oakfield Town Building in order to make it more available to the public. 

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In 1963, Mr. G. Sherwin Haxton, a prominent businessman in Oakfield, along with his wife, donated funds to build a Library. The Town of Oakfield donated a parcel of land on which to build the Haxton Memorial Library. In 1969 the Haxton Memorial Library received its Absolute Charter.

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The Haxton Memorial Public Library, a complete community library on the corner of Drake and North Pearl Streets in Oakfield, was designed to accommodate 12,000 volumes. It was made possible by the charitable corporation, the Haxton Fund Inc., set up by G. Sherwin Haxton shortly before his death in 1959. The gift from the Haxton Fund Inc. included the building, all the furniture, the equipment as well as funds for book purchases through 1967. The building plans and specifications were prepared by the Buffalo, NY architectural firm of Rogers & Smith. 

 

Mr. Haxton was a pioneer canner and banker who was born in Oakfield on November 20, 1884. He was the son of George W. and Ella Koppe Haxton. At his death, Mr. Haxton was chairman of the board of Haxton Foods Inc., president of Geo. W. Haxton Son Inc., chairman of the board and director of the Exchange Bank, and a partner in Haxton, Burr & Fuller, an insurance agency, all located in Oakfield, NY. He was president of the Blue Boy Dairy located in Rochester, NY and a director of the Central Trust Company, also in Rochester. 

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The Haxton Memorial Public Library, serving the Oakfield and Alabama community, is a member of the Nioga Library System that serves libraries in the Niagara, Orleans and Genesee Counties and has access to materials and services from libraries in the system. 

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