{"nrhp_refnum":"71000162","name":"Madera County Courthouse","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"210 W. Yosemite Ave.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Madera","county":"Madera County","state":"CA","lat":36.95958649200003,"lon":-120.06173994999995,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1971-09-03","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A two-story granite county courthouse with a full basement at 210 West Yosemite in Madera, California, constructed in 1900 using granite from the Raymond quarries in Madera County.","why_significant":"The nomination calls it the first really important planned building in Madera County and the first important building after Madera became a county. It served for sixty years as the administrative and political center for a largely agricultural population, and housed the county's first library. It is also described as a neo-classic public building with a high clock tower.","narrative":"Madera County's old courthouse at 210 West Yosemite was built in 1900 of granite from the Raymond quarries in the county. It has two floors and a full basement, measures roughly 84 by 93 feet, and follows the rectangular masonry neo-classic style common in American public buildings, with restrained ornament and a high clock tower topped by a vaulted, columned cupola. A fire in 1906 damaged part of the interior and brought down the clock tower, though the clock itself was not injured. Madera County was created in 1893, and the courthouse served for sixty years as the administrative and political center for a largely agricultural population. It was the first important building in the county and housed its first library. After a 1953 survey declared it unsafe, county government moved across the street, and the Historical Society took over the building with plans to restore it as a museum. The exterior is described as looking much as it always did.","period_of_significance":"1900","architect_builder":null,"architectural_style":"Rectangular masonry neo-classic","criteria":[],"status_note":"Condition rated fair, with minor interior modernization. Declared unsafe after a 1953 survey and county government moved across the street; the county road department was still using it and was to move out. The county turned it over to the Historical Society, which was raising money to restore it as a museum.","vacant_flag":null,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:55:32.230906-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_CA/71000162.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/71000162/63afd3797b-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/71000162/63afd3797b-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"NoeHill","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Madera_County_Courthouse_June_2006.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">NoeHill</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:Madera_County_Courthouse_June_2006.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/123859650","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Madera_County_Courthouse","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q6727144"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/california/madera-county/madera-county-courthouse-71000162/"}