For Immediate Release: 11/3/2014
California State Historical Resources CommissionTo Consider Thirteen Properties for Action
Contact: Jay Correia
(916) 445-7008
This week, the California State Historical Resources Commission will consider twelve nominations for federal historic designation, and one nomination for state historic designation. Nominations and photographs of properties under consideration are available at http://ohp.parks.ca.gov/?page_id=24368.
The Commission will meet this Friday, November 7, at 9:00 a.m. in the Second Floor Historic Hearing Room at Historic City Hall, 915 I Street in Sacramento, California.
The nominations are as follows:
National Register of Historic Places nominations scheduled for action include:
- Amelia Vollers House, San Mateo, San Mateo County
A highly ornamented one-and-one-half story Queen Anne cottage, located in San Mateo. Built by James Sharpe Tannahill in 1891, the house embodies the distinctive characteristics of the Queen Anne style and is one of only a small number of examples of the style remaining in San Mateo.
- CA-ORA-855, San Juan Capistrano, Orange County
This large village and cemetery occupied by the Acjachemen/Juaneño people from approximately 1400 to 1800, is located on a 28.9-acre privately owned parcel. The site is capped, beneath athletic fields. This was the first village established in the San Juan Capistrano Valley by Native Americans of the Late Prehistoric Era, or approximately 600 years before present. It was still occupied at the time of Spanish exploration into Alta California, and the inhabitants were inducted into and helped to build the mission and local historic adobes.
- Capitol Towers, Sacramento, Sacramento County
A large-scale, multi-family Modern residential complex with low-rise garden apartment buildings, a high-rise tower, and pedestrian-oriented landscapes on an approximately 10-acre superblock in downtown Sacramento. Constructed between 1959 and 1965, Capitol Towers was among the first privately sponsored urban redevelopment projects in California.
- Franklin Rosborough Thomas House, La Cañada Flintridge, Los Angeles County
Designed by Theodore Criley, Jr. in the Mid-Century Modern style with a landscape site plan by Garrett Eckbo, for Frank Thomas, one of Walt Disney’s Nine Old Men and a significant figure in the motion picture animation industry.
- George & Eliza Withington House, Ione, Amador County
An excellent local example of Gold Rush-era architecture in Amador County, embodying the distinctive characteristics of the Greek Revival style of architecture. Built in 1857 for Ione Valley pioneers George and Eliza Withington, it is the only surviving property associated with Eliza’s career as a portrait and landscape photographer and George’s role in settling the Ione Valley.
- Guapiabit-Serrano Homeland Archaeological District, Location Restricted, San Bernadino County
A district of archaeological sites in San Bernardino County associated with the traditional homeland of the Serrano People including large village sites, campsites, and ethnographic landscapes showing evidence of over 3500 years of occupation and activity.
- Mount Tamalpais Mountain Theater, Mill Valley (vicinity), Marin County
Designed by renowned San Francisco landscape architect Emerson Knight. He merged classical aesthetics with rustic naturalism to create a space of utmost simplicity, utilizing local materials, skilled Civilian Conservation Corps veterans, and the site’s astounding vistas. The property is associated with The National-State Park Cooperative Program and the Civilian Conservation Corps in California State Parks 1933-1942 Multiple Property Submission.
- San Diego Fire Station #6, San Diego, San Diego County
A fire station and maintenance facility located in the Little Italy neighborhood of San Diego. The building combines a two-story firehouse with a one-story machine shop in garage, with minimal elements of Mission Revival style architecture. The property is significant for its association with fire chief Louis Almgren, who built the first internal combustion powered fireboat, and inventor Robert Ely, who developed the Ely Fire Hose Thread Standardizer, now known as the National Standard Thread used by all fire departments across the United States. Both inventions were developed at this location.
- San Jose Central Fire Station, San Jose, Santa Clara County
An International Style firehouse located in downtown San Jose, designed by the architecture firm of Binder and Curtis and built in 1951. When completed, this station became the city's central fire station including a new communication system that functioned as a command center for emergency services throughout the city.
- Sebastian Indian Reserve Dis-contiguous Archaeological District, Location Restricted, Kern County
Archaeological sites that represent five of the nine primary villages of one of the first Indian reserves in California associated with the organization of the Tejon Indian Tribe and the potential for archaeological research.
- Sonoma Valley Woman’s Club, Sonoma, Sonoma County
A 1916 Craftsman style building designed by Petaluma architect Brainerd Jones. The club that commissioned and still occupies the building is closely associated with the civic development of the town of Sonoma, and the preservation of its historic resources.
- Woman’s Club of Palo Alto, Palo Alto, Santa Clara County
A meeting hall designed by Charles Edward Hodges. The building was a community meeting hall for the Woman's Club of Palo Alto, part of a national network of women's civic organizations, and was designed by master architect Charles Edward Hodges combining elements of Craftsman and Tudor Revival architectural styles.
California Register of Historical Resources nominations scheduled for action include:
- Cottrell House, San Diego, San Diego County
A 1963 Hacienda/Rancheria style home designed by master architect Cliff May. The property is a transition from his earlier work in San Diego to his later work with Ranch style homes in Los Angeles.
RESOLUTIONS
- City of Palm Springs, California’s 65th Certified Local Government
- City of Sonoma, California’s 66th Certified Local Government
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 Carol Roland, 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.
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