California State Historical Resources Commission To Consider 12 Properties for Action

SACRAMENTO, Calif. – (RealEstateRama) — The California State Historical Resources Commission (Commission) will consider 12 nominations for federal historic designation next Friday, July 28. The Commission meeting will be held at 9 a.m. in the Council Chamber at San Rafael City Hall, located at 1400 Fifth Avenue, San Rafael.

Properties being considered at this meeting include historic places such as a church complex in San Francisco associated with a pastor from 1968-1972 who was a prominent civil rights activist serving as the public face for Catholic involvement in the Black civil rights movement and an industrial district in Vallejo associated with expansion of the flour milling industry into worldwide markets during and after World War I.

All properties being considered by the Commission include:

National Register of Historic Places Nominations

Benicia Southern Pacific Passenger Depot

Benicia, Solano County

The two-story Stick Style passenger depot, originally constructed in 1897 in Banta, California, and based on Southern Pacific standard depot plan No. 18, was dismantled and relocated to Benicia in 1902. It served as Benicia’s main passenger and freight station, and train-ferry staging center until 1930. The station served as a residence for the station agent until 1958. 

Brooklyn Presbyterian Church

Oakland, Alameda County

Built in 1887 in an area of East Oakland once known as the township of Brooklyn, the two-story redwood building in the Late Victorian Romanesque style sits on a slightly raised knoll amidst a mixed industrial and residential neighborhood. The knoll and height of its two towers allows the tips of the tower spires to be seen from miles away. The windows are among the largest stained glass windows in Oakland, and the interior woodwork of the auditorium is crafted of redwood and black walnut.

Georgetown Civil War Armory

Georgetown, El Dorado County

Originally the headquarters for the Georgetown Blues, a local defense force, 1862-1863, the building was then formally attached to the official Georgetown Union Guard, Company A, Second Infantry Battalion, Fourth Brigade who used the Armory through June 1868. The one and one-half story building was designed in a style popular during the mid-nineteenth century Gold Rush era, and constructed with local materials. The simple design encompasses elements of Greek Revival architectural details including a symmetrical façade, front gabled roof, gabled pediment with a wide band of decorative trim, and recessed entry way.

David Hewes House

Tustin, Orange County

The house was built in 1881, primarily in the Late Victorian Italianate style, with a second floor remodel in 1919 allowing for additional bedrooms. The front porch wraps around to the north and south sides of the house, and a second porch embellishes the west-facing side of the house. Tall glass windows decorate all sides of the first floor. The second floor incorporates square glass windows, and a widow’s walk remains from the original design. Hewes occupied the house until 1890, during time he played a significant role in developing the community of Tustin and its agriculture, industry and transportation.

Marin City Public Housing

Marin City, Marin County

Twenty-nine buildings on approximately 30 acres were planned and arranged to provide privacy and views within an open landscaped green campus. The building style was strongly influenced by Frank Lloyd Wright, reflective of Design Architect Aaron Green’s architectural philosophy and practice. Green was trained by Wright as well as serving as Wright’s West Coast Representative. The campus was constructed by the County of Marin, using federal funding, as the first phase of the redevelopment of Marin City from a temporary wartime labor town of quickly constructed wood frame buildings to a permanent solution providing housing for low- to mid-income residents who settled in the area.

Maxfield Building

Los Angeles, Los Angeles County

Located in the Fashion District of downtown Los Angeles, the building was associated with the development and financing of the Los Angeles garment industry. With twelve stories, plus a penthouse and basement, the reinforced concrete building is characterized by utilitarian Art Deco style with emphasis on verticality with slightly projecting vertical piers. It also exhibits other character defining features inspired by the Renaissance Revival style such as the corner towers and arched windows on the east façade.

Rowell-Chandler Building

Fresno, Fresno County

The rectangular plan, six-story building is located in downtown Fresno, across from the Fresno County Courthouse. The three-part vertical block building was designed for the Rowell-Chandler Company by architect Edward T. Foulkes in a Classical Revival style, with Second Renaissance Revival detailing. It was completed in 1913 and was Fresno’s first steel-frame, high-rise office building. The two principal elevations along Tulare Street and Van Ness Avenue have a tripartite composition of tan brick, terra cotta ornamentation, and tin entablature at the cornice, with each section separated by a decorative belt course.

Sacred Heart Parish Complex

San Francisco, San Francisco County

The church, rectory, school and convent were all designed in the Romanesque Revival style and constructed between 1898 and 1936. The property is associated with the growth and development of the Western Addition and Catholic religious institutions in San Francisco, as the neighborhood transitioned from predominantly Irish to African American. The property is associated with Father Eugene Boyle, pastor from 1968-1972, a prominent civil rights activist who served as the public face for Catholic involvement in the Black civil rights movement, protest of the Vietnam War, fights against urban renewal, fair housing advocacy, and the farm labor movement. The complex is also significant for its architecture, designed by Thomas J. Welsh.

Sierraville School

Sierraville, Sierra County

The 1931 Art Deco school building is constructed of reinforced concrete, built to replace an earlier circa 1875 school that burned down. The property is significant for its association with education in the Sierra Valley, and as a locally significant example of the work of Chester Cole, who designed over 30 schools in Northern California. 

Sperry Flour Company Vallejo Mills Historic District

Vallejo, Solano County

The industrial district located on Vallejo’s waterfront, includes mill, warehouse, and grain elevator buildings constructed between 1917 and 1965. The properties are associated with master architect Maurice Couchot and the development of California’s flour industry in the early twentieth century.

Thomas Jefferson Elementary Building

Corona, Riverside County

The 1927 school was designed in the Spanish Colonial Revival style by W. Horace Austin, and the 1931 south library wing was designed by G. Stanley Wilson. The property is nominated as the work of both master architects, with Wilson’s addition following and enhancing Austin’s earlier design.

Wee Kirk

Ben Lomond, Santa Cruz County

The 1891 Colonial Revival style church is an approximately two-story tall, single story, rectangular building with a steeply pitched gable roof, bell tower, and entrance portico. A cottage, also constructed in 1891, was moved to the lot in 1923 from the Ben Lomond Hotel nearby. The church building and cottage were initially connected by a short enclosed corridor that was subsequently fully integrated in 1953 through the removal of the north wall of the nave and the construction of a chancel to the north of the nave connecting to the cottage The church is flanked on its eastern side by a 60-foot memorial second growth California coastal redwood tree and small garden.

All nominations and photographs of properties under consideration are available at www.ohp.parks.ca.gov/pending.

Resolutions

Marin County Civic Center

The public may present oral statements at the hearing at the appropriate time. Written comments about any subject on the agenda may be submitted to Julianne Polanco, State Historic Preservation Officer, Office of Historic Preservation, Post Office Box 942896, Sacramento, California 94296-0001. Inquiries may be directed to Recording Secretary Twila Willis-Hunter by phone at (916) 445-7052, by fax at (916) 445-7053 or by mail to the State Historical Resources Commission, Post Office Box 942896, Sacramento, California 94296-0001. Notices and agendas for the Commission’s workshop and meeting are available at ten days before the meeting.

The National Register of Historic Places is part of a national program that coordinates and supports public and private efforts to identify, evaluate, and protect America’s historic and archaeological resources. The California Register of Historical Resources includes buildings, sites, structures, objects, and districts significant in the architectural, engineering, scientific, economic, agricultural, educational, social, political, military, or cultural annals of California.

Notices and agendas for California State Historical Commission meetings are available online at www.parks.ca.gov/commissions.

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California State Parks Mission

To provide for the health, inspiration and education of the people of California by helping to preserve the state’s extraordinary biological diversity, protecting its most valued natural and cultural resources, and creating opportunities for high quality outdoor recreation.

Contact: / Jay Correia / Jay.Correia (at) parks.ca (dot) gov / (916) 445-7008