Lending Library

During your stay, please enjoy a selection from our library, curated from the New York Times Best Sellers list.

AN HISTORIC CONNECTION

E.B. Morgan—a lifelong resident of Aurora and the man who built the Aurora Inn and E.B. Morgan House—was one of the original shareholders of the New York Times.

In 1871, E.B. Morgan saved the New York Times from falling into the hands of allies of William Magear “Boss” Tweed, an infamously corrupt New York City-based politician. Journalists at the Times exposed and attacked Tweed in a series of powerful exposés, and he sought to stop the coverage by taking control of the paper. E.B., then 65, bought enough shares—equal to roughly $10 million today—to stop the takeover of the paper, who continued its journalistic campaign against Tweed.

In 1877, seven years after E.B. Morgan’s intervention, Tweed was convicted for stealing at least $45 million from New York taxpayers.