Willard Library

🏢 Evansville Vanderburgh Public Library · EVANSVILLE, Indiana

Willard Library

Willard Library opened March 28, 1885, founded by businessman Willard Carpenter in a Victorian Gothic building that Indiana's oldest public library structure still in use — and one of the most famously haunted, home to the legendary Grey Lady ghost reported since 1937.

📖 About Willard Library

<p>Founded by prominent Evansville businessman and politician Willard Carpenter, Willard Library opened on March 28, 1885, in a Victorian Gothic building constructed between 1877 and 1885 at a cost of $60,000. Carpenter had originally envisioned a college bearing the Willard name, inspired by the Emma Willard School, but pivoted to a public library as an equally worthy institution for community learning. The building was designated a National Historic Place in 1972 and remains Indiana's oldest public library building still in active use. A 2015 underground expansion — the first physical expansion in the library's history — added space without altering the historic exterior. Willard is particularly renowned for its genealogy and local history archives, its annual October Ghost Tours, and the Grey Lady, a ghost first reported in the late 1930s whose presence has been documented ever since.</p>

⭐ What makes this branch special

• Indiana's oldest public library building still in active use — opened March 28, 1885
• Victorian Gothic architecture designated a National Historic Place in 1972
• Home to the legendary Grey Lady ghost, reported since 1937, with annual October Ghost Tours
• Extensive genealogy and local history archives with rare documents and digital collections

📱 Free with an EVPL Card

Digital resources available 24/7 from home with your library card.

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