HISTORY
The Farmington Village Green and Library Association (FVGLA) began in 1901 when Sarah Porter, an educated and entrepreneurial woman, bequeathed land and funds for a public park for the people of Farmington.
She named seven trustees to hold the land, called the Village Green, maintain the assets, and incorporate the association with the state as a nonprofit. They took up her charge and then added three persons as trustees, D. Newton Barney was among them.
Barney, a lawyer and executive with Hartford Electric Light Company, was actively interested in Village improvements and the library. In 1880, his mother Sarah Brandegee-Barney, and aunt, Julia Brandegee, had formed the Village Library Company and Sarah Porter was among its chief supporters. As a result of his involvement, the question arose of building a library on the property.
The Village Green, a park-like area at the intersection of Routes 10 and 4, was deemed too small to build a library, so in 1909, Barney suggested they build elsewhere and offered $25,000 if the trustees could match funds to erect it. The offer was accepted, but as they were unable to raise the money, shortly thereafter, Barney proceeded on his own.
Barney leased land behind the First Congregational Church on Main Street, and then applied to the state legislature for an amendment to the FVGLA charter. This broadened the Village Green territory and brought the library into the fold. In 1918, Barney gave the association the library he had built in memory of his mother—Sarah Brandegee Barney.
In 1928, the town deeded to the FVGLA the Memento Mori Cemetery on Main Street. In 1930, the FVGLA bought the leased land under the Barney Library and three acres behind the church. Later that year, D. Newton’s son, Austin Barney, gave the FVGLA his house on High Street, which later which became Stanley-Whitman House museum, and the elder Barney donated maintenance funds.
In 1959, Unionville's West End Library merged with the FVGLA and became a branch of the Village Library. In 1983 when a modern Main library was built near the Unionville line, it became the Main Library; the Village Library became a branch and the West End Library was closed.
As a result, the FVGLA owns and operates the Farmington Library, the Barney Library, Stanley-Whitman House museum, Memento Mori Cemetery, and the Village Green.