{"nrhp_refnum":"01001050","name":"Fresno Sanitary Landfill","other_names":[],"category":"site","location":{"address":"West and Jensen Aves.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Fresno","county":"Fresno County","state":"CA","lat":36.69984660200004,"lon":-119.82918565699998,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"2001-08-07","is_nhl":true,"nhl_designated_date":"2001-08-07","areas_of_significance":[],"significance_levels":[],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A 140-acre municipal sanitary landfill about three miles southwest of Fresno, California, near West and Jensen Avenues. It operated from 1937 to 1987 and was designed by engineer Jean L. Vincenz.","why_significant":"The nomination calls it the oldest \"true\" sanitary landfill in the United States and the oldest compartmentalized municipal landfill in the western United States. It is tied to Vincenz's trench-and-cover method, which stressed systematic refuse cells, a deeper earth cover and compaction of both soil and waste. It is recognized for its role in engineering, community planning and public health, and in the later spread of the sanitary landfill as a disposal method.","narrative":"Fresno Sanitary Landfill is a rectangular mound of compacted refuse and earth about 140 acres in size, roughly 4,200 feet long and 1,250 feet wide, southwest of Fresno, California. Refuse reaches 45 to 60 feet above the surrounding grade. From 1937 to 1987 it received the city's municipal solid waste. City engineer Jean L. Vincenz designed it around a trench method: waste was placed in a trench, leveled and compacted, then covered with soil dug from the next trench. Vincenz considered compaction and a real earth cover essential if a fill was to be truly sanitary. The nomination describes it as the oldest true sanitary landfill in the United States and the oldest compartmentalized municipal landfill in the western United States. Its significance rests on engineering, community planning and public health, with a period of significance of 1937 to 1950. The site had no liners or leachate systems, and later investigations found groundwater contamination and methane migration, leading to its Superfund listing in 1989.","period_of_significance":"1937-1950","architect_builder":"Jean L. Vincenz (Engineer)","architectural_style":"Other: Sanitary Landfill","criteria":["A","B","C","D"],"status_note":"Closed June 30, 1987, and later a Superfund site; plans called for a new cap on the landfill mound and sports fields on adjacent city land.","vacant_flag":null,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:55:32.170643-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_CA/01001050_NHL.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/01001050/fd7b542b03-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/01001050/fd7b542b03-1600.webp","licence":"Public domain","author":"US EPA","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:FresnoLandfillEPA.png\" rel=\"noopener\">US EPA</a>, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:FresnoLandfillEPA.png"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/123857901","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fresno_Municipal_Sanitary_Landfill","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q14681993"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/california/fresno-county/fresno-sanitary-landfill-01001050/"}