In 1839, Eli Barnes built Sycamore’s first commercial building, known as the Mansion House. This inn (known in those days as a tavern) was home to doctors, lawyers, and merchants who came to settle in Sycamore before their homes were built. This building became known as the City Hotel in 1904. It was moved across the street to where the Post Office sits today to make space for the new library. It was moved again in 1914 to make room for the post office and then demolished in 1959.

The Sycamore Public Library was built in 1905. One of Sycamore’s former mayors, Frederick B. Townsend, donated the land. A grant of $12,000 from Andrew Carnegie, a philanthropist, provided most of the funding to build the library. The 1905 library included a smoking and reading room for “men only” in the basement. The building was expanded in 1996 to its present size.