{"nrhp_refnum":"71000193","name":"Octagon Building","other_names":["Hall of Records"],"category":"building","location":{"address":"Corner of Front and Cooper Sts.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Santa Cruz","county":"Santa Cruz County","state":"CA","lat":36.974766024000076,"lon":-122.02566439299994,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1971-03-24","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A one-story, octagonal brick building at the corner of Front Street and Cooper Street in Santa Cruz, California, built in 1882 as the county Hall of Records and owned by the County of Santa Cruz.","why_significant":"The nomination calls it a unique structure for its era, said to be styled after a $50 gold piece minted in San Francisco in 1851-1852. It survived the 1894 fire, the 1906 earthquake and a 1955 flood. It is believed to be the only brick building of this octagonal shape remaining in the state, and it was designated the county's historical museum.","narrative":"Built in 1882 at a cost of $10,000, this octagonal, one-story brick building at Front and Cooper Streets in Santa Cruz served as the county's Hall of Records for eighty-six years, until a new county government building opened in 1968. Its exterior combined brick, molded sheet metal designs, a corrugated metal roof and plastered columns. The shape is said to follow a $50 gold piece minted in San Francisco in 1851-1852. The building came through the 1894 fire that destroyed the neighboring courthouse, the 1906 earthquake, and a major flood in 1955. The nomination states that it is the only brick structure of this octagonal form known to remain in California. An early 1900s addition on the Front Street side strained the walls and was slated for removal during a restoration funded by a federal preservation grant. The building was then designated the county's historical museum and information center.","period_of_significance":"Built in 1882","architect_builder":null,"architectural_style":null,"criteria":[],"status_note":"Restoration was reported complete in a 1975 letter, and the building is used as the Santa Cruz County Historical Museum.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:55:31.900362-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_CA/71000193.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/71000193/2044ee401b-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/71000193/2044ee401b-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 4.0","author":"Eugene Zelenko","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:USA-Santa_Cruz-Octagon_Building-1.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Eugene Zelenko</a>, <a href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY-SA 4.0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:USA-Santa_Cruz-Octagon_Building-1.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/123861883","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Octagon_Building_(Santa_Cruz,_California)","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q7076704"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/california/santa-cruz-county/octagon-building-71000193/"}