The Julia Ideson Building & the Phantom Violinist

Some ghost stories are frightening. This one is mostly beautiful. The Julia Ideson Building — Houston's original central library, opened in 1926 — is one of the loveliest buildings in the city, a Spanish Renaissance jewel of cream brick, arched windows, and hand-painted ceilings named for the librarian who fought for it. And for nearly a century, visitors have reported the same gentle thing: the faint sound of a violin drifting through the reading rooms when no one is playing. Legend ties the music to Jacob Frank Cramer, a night watchman who lived in the basement and, the story goes, played waltzes to pass the lonely hours until his death in the building in 1936. This very short walk takes you to the Ideson and the civic buildings around it, telling the real history of each and, where it lives, the story people tell after dark. It's a quiet, elegant haunt — perfect for a first-time ghost walk.