Sometimes a building just wants you to visit; there’s something so inviting about the outside that you want to go in. Unfortunately, when I visited San Luis Obispo earlier this year, it was closed because of the pandemic. But by reputation, its collection is well worth a visit!
Now serving as a center for the history of San Luis Obispo Country, the sandstone and granite building was built in 1904-5 with a grant from the Carnegie Foundation. It’s a prime example of the Richardsonian Romanesque style, and was designed by W.H. Weeks, who also designed twenty other Carnegie Libraries in California.
After fifty years in the building, the library moved on, and after renovation, the San Luis Obispo County Historical Society opened its museum there. Since 1995, the building has been listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
