Local History

Main Street, White Plains, September 23, 1959. From the Peter Kanze Collection.

Main Street, White Plains, September 23, 1959. From the Peter Kanze Collection.

 
Welcome to WPPL's White Plains History page. WPPL is a prime site for community memory and we hold a rich set of materials relevant to White Plains' past. The White Plains Collection includes books, photographs, maps, oral histories, pamphlets, clippings, and ephemera that help us understand the past in White Plains and build a richer context for our own time. Although our collection focuses on White Plains, we also hold material relevant to surrounding communities and Westchester County as a whole.

The White Plains Collection is here for people to use. We encourage you to browse our website for help with your research. Areas of our collection are highlighted on this page, but not all of our holdings are represented online.

We assist people- regardless of their level of experience- with historical and genealogical research. Sharing our resources and knowledge with others is our goal.

 

Local History Room

If you have a question please contact us by email: librarian@whiteplainslibrary.org or phone: 914-422-1400

Local History Room

On Mondays from 2 PM – 4 PM and Fridays from 10 AM – 12 PM, local history librarian Ben Himmelfarb will be in the local history room to provide assistance in your research. No prior appointment is necessary to come during these times, but it's always better to give advance notice if you can. Email Ben at bhimmelfarb@whiteplainslibrary.org or call 914-422-6980 and share some details about the people, places, or things you want to learn about. We have lots of fascinating and obscure material in our collection, but finding some of it is more complicated than browsing the shelves, so don't hesitate to stop by during Ben's office hours to get some pointers on navigating our White Plains collection.