931 Woodrow Street
Richland Library Wheatley
The original Phyllis Wheatley Library opened in 1930 at the African American Y.W.C.A. of the same name at 1429 Park Street. Phillis Wheatley, an African woman enslaved by the Wheatley family in colonial Boston, is considered the first African American female poet and one of the most influential African Americans in literary history. In 1936, the branch was relocated to 2314 Gervais Street and became the Phyllis Wheatley branch of the Richland County Library System. The branch closed in 1972. Today's structure, known as Richland Library Wheatley, was completed in 1993 and rests on land that was once part of a large tract comprising one-fourth of the entire block.