Julia Ideson Building


The Julia Ideson Building is a Houston Public Library facility in Downtown Houston, Texas, United States. It is named for Julia Bedford Ideson, the first Head Librarian of the Houston Public Libraries, who served in that role for forty years.
The building, with Spanish Renaissance architecture, is part of the Central Library; it houses the archives, manuscripts, and the Texas and Local History Department. The Houston Metropolitan Research Center is located in the building.
From 1926 to 1976 it was the sole main library building of Houston.

History

Designed by Ralph Adams Cram of Cram and Ferguson, Boston, the Ideson Building opened in 1926 as the Central Library for HPL; the building, exhibiting a Spanish Revival style, replaced a prior Carnegie building. In 1976 the Jesse H. Jones Building opened, and the main portion of the Central Library moved to the new building.
The building received listing in the National Register of Historic Places in 1977. The Ideson building reopened in 1979.
Lana Berkowitz of the Houston Chronicle stated that there are legends of the Ideson Building being haunted by the ghost of Jacob Frank Cramer, a library caretaker, and Petey, his dog.