🏢 Houston Public Library — Houston, Texas

Julia Ideson Building

A 1926 Spanish Renaissance landmark that once served as Houston's central library and now safeguards the city's documented history.

📖 About Julia Ideson Building

Designed by Ralph Adams Cram of the Boston firm Cram and Ferguson and opened in 1926, the Julia Ideson Building is a Spanish Renaissance masterwork that served as Houston Public Library's sole central library until the Jesse H. Jones Building opened in 1976. It is named for Julia Bedford Ideson, the system's first head librarian, who led the library for four decades. Added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1977, the building reopened in 1979 following restoration and today houses the Houston History Research Center, formerly known as the Houston Metropolitan Research Center. Its holdings include archival collections, photographs, maps, oral histories, and architectural drawings, among them the Stephen Fox architectural archives of some 125,000 building drawings, a Houston photograph collection spanning 1859 to 1973, the Dr. Claude Elliott Texana Collection, and the Texas Jazz Collection. Local legend even holds that the building is haunted by former caretaker Jacob Frank Cramer and his dog Petey.

⭐ What makes this branch special

• 1926 Spanish Renaissance design by Ralph Adams Cram of Cram and Ferguson
• Named for Julia Ideson, HPL's first head librarian
• On the National Register of Historic Places since 1977
• Home to the Stephen Fox architectural archive of ~125,000 drawings

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