{"nrhp_refnum":"00000386","name":"Municipal Warehouse No. 1","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"2500 Signal St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"San Pedro","county":"Los Angeles County","state":"CA","lat":33.72089460800004,"lon":-118.27230370899997,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"2000-04-21","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Commerce","Maritime History"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A six-story steel-reinforced concrete warehouse at 2500 Signal Street in the Port of Los Angeles, San Pedro, completed in 1917 and designed by Peter Ficker of the Harbor Engineers office.","why_significant":"The warehouse was the Port's only bonded warehouse, a function critical to Los Angeles entering international trade. It played a leading role in port warehousing during the break-bulk cargo era, from 1917 until containerization in the early 1960s. It is also a visual landmark for ships entering the harbor.","narrative":"Municipal Warehouse No. 1 is a large six-story concrete warehouse at the south end of berths 59-60 in the Port of Los Angeles, San Pedro. Completed in 1917, it contains about 500,000 square feet in a 475 by 150-foot plan. Peter Ficker, then working in the Harbor Engineers office, designed it with full-height pilasters, projecting fire escapes, steel freight doors and lion-faced gargoyle drain spouts cast from his sculpture. Rail tracks run inside the building. It served as the Port's only bonded warehouse, allowing goods to be held for customs and valuable cargo to be stored. In the era of break-bulk cargo, such warehousing let distributors accumulate goods until ships arrived and helped make shipping efficient. The port surpassed other West Coast ports in cargo tonnage and value by 1923. The warehouse was a leading facility until containerization reduced the need for storage in the early 1960s. It remains in its original use and is a prominent landmark for ships and for San Pedro residents.","period_of_significance":"1917-1950","architect_builder":"Peter Ficker","architectural_style":null,"criteria":["A"],"status_note":"In good condition and still used in its original warehouse capacity; the rooftop water tank is being partially restored.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:54:26.867673-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_CA/00000386.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/00000386/c94c256175-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/00000386/c94c256175-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"User:Doncram","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:WarehouseNo1_sm2.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">User:Doncram</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:WarehouseNo1_sm2.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/123859339","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Municipal_Warehouse_No._1","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q6936296"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/california/los-angeles-county/municipal-warehouse-no-1-00000386/"}