10/09/2026
What could be better than living around the corner from the Lanier Library?
In 1890, five Tryon women started a club to spark intellectual and cultural life in the Foothills. They named it for poet Sidney Lanier, who spent his last days just outside town. His wife gave two books of his poetry as the club's very first volumes.
Since 1905, the library has made its home at the top of the Chestnut Street hill. Locals still call it the "Grand Old Lady on the Hill." It's Tryon's oldest civic organization and one of only 16 historic membership libraries still open in the United States, the libraries that paved the way for today's public library system.
Tryon has a long history as a home for writers, and the Lanier keeps that tradition going with author talks, readings, and events all year long. Dogs are welcome too, a tradition going back at least to 1967. 🐕📚
It's one of Tryon's many big cultural treasures, in a town that has always punched well above its size.
Fun in Tryon, from your neighbors at Around Tryon Properties.
