Judge Stephen G. Nash—an alumnus of New Hampton (1838) and Dartmouth College (1842)—provided a bequest to build and endow a library for the benefit of the school and the town. The Gordon-Nash Library was first established on paper in 1887 and completed construction to open in 1896.
“The spine tingles when one enters a library—it is like entering a room full of heroes. A book is a great thing.” – Stephen G. Nash
New Hampton alumnus Judge Stephen G. Nash funded the Gordon-Nash Library to serve “residents, students, and sojourners” and bequeathed to it his extensive personal collection. According to the History of the Gordon-Nash Library “In the 1880’s only seventy-six public libraries in the U. S. boasted more than three hundred books each and in 1887 (one year before the lot for Gordon-Nash Library was purchased) the first professional library training was started in New York City. When the library opened in 1896 (June 25) it housed approximately 6,000 of Judge Nash’s books and bound magazines, 4,000 books belonging to the literary societies of New Hampton Literary Institution, and some 200 books belonging to the Biblical Institution, some 10,200 books.”
