{"nrhp_refnum":"09000466","name":"First Baptist Church of Ventura","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"101 S. Laurel St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Ventura","county":"Ventura County","state":"CA","lat":34.27919684900007,"lon":-119.28543190799996,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"2009-07-03","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A church building at 101 S. Laurel Street in Ventura, California, with a Sunday school building completed in 1926 and an auditorium added and remodeled in Mayan Revival style in 1931-32, designed by Robert B. Stacy-Judd.","why_significant":"It is significant under Criterion C in architecture as a nearly unaltered example of Mayan Revival design by its leading proponent, Robert Stacy-Judd. It is likely the only church in the nation designed in this style. The Keeper amended the nomination to local significance, finding the case for national significance insufficient.","narrative":"Mayan Revival architecture shapes this church at the corner of South Laurel and East Santa Clara streets in Ventura. A plain Sunday school building opened in 1926 for the First Baptist congregation, founded in 1922. Architect Robert B. Stacy-Judd of Los Angeles was hired in 1928 to design a new auditorium, and the complex was completed and remodeled to match in 1931-32. A stepped tower about 56 feet high, corbeled arches, stained glass windows and deeply carved Mayan-inspired friezes define the exterior. Inside, the sanctuary has a stepped corbeled-arch ceiling, a balcony, and Mayan-patterned fixtures and grillwork. The Baptists left in 1959, and the building, locally nicknamed the Mayan Temple, passed to a Religious Science congregation that still uses it. It was listed for its architecture, as an intact work by the style's best-known advocate, and is considered locally rather than nationally significant.","period_of_significance":"1932","architect_builder":"Stacy-Judd, Robert Benjamin","architectural_style":"Late 19th and 20th Century Revivals/Mayan","criteria":["C"],"status_note":"Still used for religious purposes; the building retains a high degree of integrity, with minor alterations such as aluminum replacement windows on secondary elevations and a wheelchair ramp.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:54:29.822813-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_CA/09000466.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/09000466/85a90a872d-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/09000466/85a90a872d-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"Fettlemap","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:NRHP-09000466.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Fettlemap</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:NRHP-09000466.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/123862336","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_Baptist_Church_of_Ventura","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q5452482"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/california/ventura-county/first-baptist-church-of-ventura-09000466/"}