Julia Ideson Building

Julia Ideson Building
U.S. National Register of Historic Places
Julia Ideson Building
Location	500 McKinney Street Houston, Texas
Coordinates	29°45′32″N 95°22′9″W / 29.75889°N 95.36917°WCoordinates: 29°45′32″N 95°22′9″W / 29.75889°N 95.36917°W
Area	1.5 acres (0.61 ha)
Built	1926
Architectural style	Late 19th And 20th Century Revivals, Other, Spanish Renaissance
NRHP Reference #	77001447[1]
Added to NRHP	November 23, 1977

The Julia Ideson Building is a Houston Public Library facility in Downtown Houston, Texas, United States.

The building, with Spanish Renaissance architecture,^[2] is part of the Central Library; it houses the archives, manuscripts, and the Texas and Local History Department.^[3] The Houston Metropolitan Research Center is located in the building.^[4]

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 (as the building was named in 1989) opened, and the Central Library moved to the new building.^[4]

The building received listing in the National Register of Historic Places in 1977.^[1] The Ideson building reopened in 1979.^[4]

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.^[2]

References

1. Staff (2010-07-09). "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service.
2. Berkowitz, Lana. "Downtown Houston can be a real ghost town." Houston Chronicle. October 21, 2007. Retrieved on March 7, 2010.
3. "Central Library Julia Ideson Building Texas Room and Archives." Houston Public Library. Retrieved on January 27, 2009.
4. Houston Public Library from the Handbook of Texas Online