{"nrhp_refnum":"10001190","name":"El Portal Old Schoolhouse","other_names":["El Portal Chapel","NPS Building No. 8847"],"category":"building","location":{"address":"Chapel Lane, Yosemite National Park","address_restricted":false,"city":"El Portal","county":"Mariposa County","state":"CA","lat":37.676016908000065,"lon":-119.78771842699996,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"2011-02-01","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Education","Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A single-story wood-frame Craftsman/Bungalow schoolhouse on Chapel Lane in the 'Old El Portal' area of El Portal, Mariposa County, California, built in 1930 and expanded eastward in 1938, with three stone retaining walls on the site.","why_significant":"The nomination argues the building is significant for education, as the town's third school and evidence of growth driven by the mining companies and their workforce. It is also significant for architecture as a good example of the local Craftsman/Bungalow vernacular of the late 1920s and 1930s. It served as a community gathering place and keeps strong integrity.","narrative":"Perched on terraced hillside above the town center of El Portal, near Yosemite National Park, this single-story wood-frame building was constructed in 1930 as a two-classroom school with cloakrooms. A third classroom was added on the east in 1938 to serve a sudden influx of residents. Its Craftsman/Bungalow character shows in the gabled roof with knee braces, wide eaves with exposed rafter tails, drop-edge clapboard siding, a central porch and grouped windows. Inside are bead board wainscoting, a tri-fold accordion divider between classrooms and built-in chalkboards. Three stone retaining walls of granite and river cobble shaped the site and count as contributing structures. The school was the town's third and reflects growth tied to mining and the railroad in the Merced River Canyon. It also served as a community gathering place. After becoming a chapel in 1969, the building kept most of its historic fabric and a high level of integrity.","period_of_significance":"1930-1938","architect_builder":"Architect unknown; according to personal interviews, local men George and David Dukes were associated with the construction","architectural_style":"Late 19th and Early 20th Century American Movements: Bungalow / Craftsman","criteria":["A","C"],"status_note":"Converted to a chapel in 1969; described as structurally sound and in remarkably good condition, with some wear from pests, vegetation and neglect.","vacant_flag":null,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:54:29.785231-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_CA/10001190.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/10001190/e65b898d72-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/10001190/e65b898d72-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"John Joseph Crane","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:El_Portal_School.JPG\" rel=\"noopener\">John Joseph Crane</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:El_Portal_School.JPG"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/123859740","wikipedia":null,"wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q96591444"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/california/mariposa-county/el-portal-old-schoolhouse-10001190/"}