{"nrhp_refnum":"00000362","name":"Kraft, Herbert, Memorial Free Library","other_names":["Kraft Free Library","Kraft Library"],"category":"building","location":{"address":"909 Jefferson","address_restricted":false,"city":"Red Bluff","county":"Tehama County","state":"CA","lat":40.178400562000036,"lon":-122.23883114399996,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"2000-04-14","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Education","Social History","Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A one-and-a-half-story Classical Revival library building at 909 Jefferson Street, Red Bluff, Tehama County, California, built 1908-1909 and designed by Franklin Pierce Burnham. It is clad in pressed brick with sandstone trim.","why_significant":"The nomination argues it was Tehama County's first public library and a regional center for education and community life from 1909 until it closed in 1982. It is also described as arguably the most significant Classical Revival building in the county and as a representative small-town library with a largely unchanged interior.","narrative":"Built in 1908-1909 at Jefferson and Hickory Streets in Red Bluff, the Herbert Kraft Memorial Free Library was Tehama County's first public library. Elizabeth Kraft funded its completion, donating over $40,000 after an earlier Carnegie library effort stalled, and dedicated it to her late husband, an early Red Bluff tinsmith, landowner and banker. Architect Franklin Pierce Burnham designed the one-and-a-half-story Classical Revival building in mottled buff pressed brick with Colusa sandstone trim. A pedimented portico with four Ionic columns marks the entrance, and inside an octagonal rotunda with Ionic columns sits beneath a stained glass skylight. Oak shelving, wainscot and fireplaces survive, and the exterior and floor plan are little changed. The library served the community until 1982, hosting education programs and social events. It has since stood vacant, and the building later passed back to the Kraft family. It was recognized for its local history and its architecture.","period_of_significance":"1909 - 1949","architect_builder":"Burnham, Franklin Pierce","architectural_style":"Late 19th and 20th Century Revivals/Classical Revival","criteria":["A","C"],"status_note":"Listed as vacant and not in use; the form says it has been vacant since 1986 and that the building was returned to the Kraft family after a lawsuit.","vacant_flag":true,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:54:26.948688-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_CA/00000362.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/00000362/f8fe3b8322-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/00000362/f8fe3b8322-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"NoeHill","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Herbert_Kraft_Memorial_Free_Library_in_Red_Bluff_February_2011.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">NoeHill</a>, <a href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY-SA 3.0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Herbert_Kraft_Memorial_Free_Library_in_Red_Bluff_February_2011.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/123862180","wikipedia":null,"wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q133568988"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/california/tehama-county/kraft-herbert-memorial-free-library-00000362/"}