The Odell Building is a historic library and museum located at 202 East Lincolnway Road in

Morrison Morrison may refer to: People * Morrison (surname), people with the Scottish surname Morrison * Morrison Heady (1829–1915), American poet * Morrison Mann MacBride (1877–1938), Canadian merchant Places in the United States * Morrison, Colorad ...

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolita ...

. The building was constructed in 1865 and originally served as Morrison's

Congregational Church Congregational churches (also Congregationalist churches or Congregationalism) are Protestant churches in the Calvinist tradition practising congregationalist church governance, in which each congregation independently and autonomously runs its ...

. In 1887, John D. Odell deeded the building to Morrison's library association, which had been established ten years earlier; the library named the building in his honor. The building held both the library's collection of books and a museum that included fossils, animal specimens, artifacts, and several other collections. The library became Morrison's

public library A public library is a library that is accessible by the general public and is usually funded from public sources, such as taxes. It is operated by librarians and library paraprofessionals, who are also Civil service, civil servants. There are ...

in 1905 and remained as such until 1995, when the city built a new library. The building was added to the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...

on December 13, 1996.

References

Libraries on the National Register of Historic Places in Illinois Neoclassical architecture in Illinois Library buildings completed in 1887 National Register of Historic Places in Whiteside County, Illinois {{WhitesideCountyIL-NRHP-stub