{"nrhp_refnum":"07001303","name":"Old Pasadena Historic District (Boundary Increase)","other_names":[],"category":"district","location":{"address":"Fair Oaks & Raymond Aves., Colorado Blvd., Green St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Pasadena","county":"Los Angeles County","state":"CA","lat":34.14576106350006,"lon":-118.15088744352818,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"2008-03-25","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Commerce","Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"An expanded historic downtown district in Pasadena, Los Angeles County, California, centered on Colorado Boulevard, Fair Oaks Avenue and Raymond Avenue. It holds 154 contributing and 40 noncontributing resources dating from 1886 through 1936.","why_significant":"The district is described as the historic downtown of Pasadena, with buildings that document the city's economic and social booms. Its streets show distinct stylistic eras: Victorian brick on Fair Oaks, Classical Beaux-Arts influences on Raymond, and Spanish Colonial Revival and Art Deco facades on Colorado Boulevard. The form states it remained largely intact because commercial activity shifted east, and it was certified as locally significant.","narrative":"Old Pasadena is the historic downtown of Pasadena, California, and this amendment documents a district of 154 contributing and 40 noncontributing resources built between 1886 and 1936. Most buildings are two stories, with a few reaching eight, and the area also includes a train station, churches, some houses and Central Park. Three streets illustrate its stylistic eras. Fair Oaks Avenue preserves brick Victorian-era commercial buildings from the 1880s. Raymond Avenue, which became the main route between the resort hotels and downtown, shows a 1890s shift toward Classical design in buff brick and cast stone. Colorado Boulevard was widened in 1929 and 1930, and its facades were rebuilt largely in Spanish Colonial Revival, with some Art Deco examples. Side streets such as Union and Green retain simple industrial and automobile-related buildings. The district stayed relatively intact because commercial activity moved east, and rehabilitation efforts began in the 1980s, including a 1985 zoning overlay protecting buildings from demolition.","period_of_significance":null,"architect_builder":"Various, including Harold J. Bissner, Bennett and Haskell, Cyril Bennett, Frederick Marsh, Frederick Kennedy Jr., Balch and Stanberry, Wallace Neff, and builder Matthew Slavin","architectural_style":"Late 19th and Early 20th Century Revivals (Beaux Arts, Mission/Spanish Colonial Revival); Modern Movement (Moderne, Art Deco)","criteria":[],"status_note":"Many contributing buildings have been extensively rehabilitated; a few were demolished and several new noncontributing buildings were built, mostly on vacant lots and surface parking lots.","vacant_flag":null,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:54:29.559438-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_CA/07001303.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/07001303/a4140ab6fe-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/07001303/a4140ab6fe-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"Adbar","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Old_Town_Pasadena_and_Metro_Local_bus.JPG\" rel=\"noopener\">Adbar</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:Old_Town_Pasadena_and_Metro_Local_bus.JPG"},"district":{"nrhp_refnum":"83001200","name":"Old Pasadena Historic District","url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/districts/california/old-pasadena-historic-district-83001200/"},"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/123859365","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Old_Pasadena","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q7085297"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/california/los-angeles-county/old-pasadena-historic-district-boundary-increase-07001303/"}