{"nrhp_refnum":"03000988","name":"Cecil Ranch","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"1840 CA 45","address_restricted":false,"city":"Grimes","county":"Colusa County","state":"CA","lat":39.09267650400005,"lon":-121.90165972999995,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"2004-05-14","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A working ranch complex of seven buildings and one structure near the Sacramento River in Grimes, Colusa County, California, centered on a 1909 residence designed by Sacramento architect Alden Campbell.","why_significant":"The nomination argues the ranch is a relatively intact and increasingly rare example of an early twentieth century ranch complex that shows how large Colusa County ranches operated from the early 1900s to about 1950. The residence is also cited as an excellent example of early twentieth century design blending Craftsman and Colonial Revival elements, with Queen Anne influence. The smokehouse and butchery reflect the shift from mule raising to pig raising during World War II.","narrative":"Cecil Ranch in Grimes, Colusa County, is a cluster of ranch buildings centered on a two-and-a-half-story house built in 1909 and designed by Sacramento architect Alden Campbell. The house mixes Craftsman features such as clinker brick bases and a decorative chimney, Colonial Revival details such as Tuscan columns and balustrades, and a different siding texture on each floor. Around it stand a water tower, wood shed, garage, bunkhouse and equipment shed, plus a smokehouse and butchery added during World War II. The Cecil family has held the property since the late 1880s and used it as the home base for its horse and mule business, which supplied overseas plantations. When wartime events closed those markets, the ranch switched to raising pigs for the war effort. The complex was listed for architecture because it remains largely intact and shows how a large local ranch worked and changed through about 1945. The main barn burned in 2002.","period_of_significance":"1909-1945","architect_builder":"Campbell, Alden","architectural_style":"Bungalow/Craftsman and Colonial Revival; other: clinker brick","criteria":["C"],"status_note":"The residence remains occupied. The water tower, wood shed, garage, equipment shed and bunkhouse are used for storage. The main barn burned in 2002, and the farmland is leased out.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:54:29.663363-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_CA/03000988.pdf"},"photo":null,"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/123858492","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cecil_Ranch","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q85751077"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/california/colusa-county/cecil-ranch-03000988/"}