Down Memory Lane

Down Memory Lane

Unfortunately, some HCPL branches have closed over the past 100 years. Here, we honor the former HCPL branches and the staff and communities that supported them.

Ellington Field

Open from 1941 to 1943. 

First Day of Service - May 9, 1921

The Harris County Public Library's first day of operation was Monday, May 9, 1921, when County Librarian Lucy Fuller began her work assembling a library system for rural Harris County. 

Garden Villas Branch Library

Open from 1929 to 1974. 

Goose Creek Colored School and George Washington Carver High School

Segregated service to the Goose Creek (Baytown) community from 1928 to 1948. 

Houston Textile Mill

Harris County operated a library at the Houston Textile Mill from 1931 to 1936 in partnership with the mill owners and the Houston school district. 

Huffman Branch Library

Open from 1926 to 1948, and again from 1953 until the early 1960s. 

Independence Gardens, Fairbanks Colored School, and Savannah J. Collier Branch Libraries

Segregated and desegregated service to the Independence Gardens/Carverdale community from 1923 to 1978

La Porte Colored School

Segregated service to the La Porte community from 1924 to 1951. 

Lindale Cafe

Open from 1928 to 1937. 

North Houston Memorial Branch Library

Open from 1948 to 1969. 

Seabrook Branch Library

Open from 1921 to the late 1950s. 

Summer Camps

From the 1930s to the 1940s, HCPL placed book collections in five summer camps.