{"nrhp_refnum":"72000226","name":"Taoist Temple","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"No. 12 China Alley","address_restricted":false,"city":"Hanford","county":"Kings County","state":"CA","lat":36.32800203700003,"lon":-119.63874033999997,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1972-06-13","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Asian"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A two-story brick temple building with a basement at No. 12 China Alley in Hanford, Kings County, California, built in 1893 for the local Chinese community.","why_significant":"The nomination presents it as the cultural focal point of China Alley, the last culturally and physically intact Chinatown in the San Joaquin Valley. It is described as one of the oldest Taoist temples in California and as the likely parent of the Sam Yup temple in San Francisco. It is largely unchanged in structure, and its artifacts, costumes and banners remain intact.","narrative":"Built in 1893 at No. 12 China Alley in Hanford, this two-story hand-molded brick building with a basement served as a Taoist temple for the local Chinese community. From the outside it resembles other commercial buildings of its era in the San Joaquin Valley, but it carries oriental touches: a carved frieze in the brick coursing, matching capitals on the end walls and a carved wooden fascia above the upstairs porch. Inside, a main room and a smaller rear room have red plaster walls and painted ceilings. The temple was the cultural focal point of China Alley, described as the last intact Chinatown in the valley. It is said to be one of California's oldest Taoist temples and a parent to the Sam Yup temple in San Francisco. Structurally it is nearly unchanged, apart from a later roof and a removed latrine, and its artifacts, costumes and banners remain. The temple is not now in use.","period_of_significance":"19th Century","architect_builder":null,"architectural_style":"Late 19th century commercial construction with oriental detailing","criteria":[],"status_note":"The temple is not now in use; the lower level rooms are deteriorated, and the form says the temple is unaltered apart from a later roof structure and removal of a latrine.","vacant_flag":true,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:55:31.756518-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_CA/72000226.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/72000226/d39fc3b164-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/72000226/d39fc3b164-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"NoeHill","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Hanford_California_Taoist_Temple_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:Hanford_California_Taoist_Temple_June_2006.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/123858883","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taoist_Temple_(Hanford,_California)","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q14684078"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/california/kings-county/taoist-temple-72000226/"}