The Houston Metropolitan Research Center (HMRC) is a research library and archives that houses materials such as photographs, documents, maps, building plans, journals, oral histories, and books for the study of Houston’s history. We also have a collection of children’s literature from the 1800s to the 1970s, many valuable and rare books, and books on the history of printing. Given how unique many of our materials are, they may not be checked out. The HMRC is located in the historic Julia Ideson Building in downtown Houston.