{"nrhp_refnum":"74000540","name":"Kee, Sam, Laundry Building","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"1245 Main St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Napa","county":"Napa County","state":"CA","lat":38.30103150200006,"lon":-122.28733716199997,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1974-10-01","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Commerce","Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A two-story cut stone masonry commercial building with a basement, built in 1875 at the southwest corner of Main and Clinton Streets (1245 Main St) in Napa, California.","why_significant":"It is described as the oldest stone building in the City of Napa and believed to be the oldest surviving commercial structure there. It is also considered a prime example of primitive design in early California, reflecting the frontier quality of early Napa. Local agencies, officials and preservation groups repeatedly identified it as a historic landmark.","narrative":"Built in 1875 at the corner of Main and Clinton Streets in Napa, this two-story cut stone commercial building measures roughly 30 by 50 feet and has a basement. Square windows carry stone lintels and sills, the date is carved in a nameplate over the door, and the roof is corrugated steel. An ornate Italianate cornice tops an otherwise plain design. A metal-covered frame addition sits at the rear, and painted-over areas on the walls, with some old advertising signs still visible on the north wall, hint at past commercial use. It is considered the oldest stone building in Napa and probably the city's oldest surviving commercial structure, illustrating the frontier character of early Napa. By 1880 it was part of Barth's Bavarian Brewery, and it later served as a boarding house and a saloon before housing the Sam Kee Laundry, described in 1901 as the oldest established laundry in the county. The architect and builder are unknown.","period_of_significance":"19th Century (built 1875)","architect_builder":null,"architectural_style":"Simple frontier-style commercial design with an ornate Italianate cornice","criteria":[],"status_note":"Occupied and in use as the Sam Kee Laundry; condition listed as fair, with no known exterior alterations.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:55:31.728713-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_CA/74000540.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/74000540/a82d02985c-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/74000540/a82d02985c-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"Sanfranman59","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Sam_Kee_Laundry_Building,_1245_Main_St.,_Napa,_CA_9-5-2010_6-50-03_PM.JPG\" rel=\"noopener\">Sanfranman59</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:Sam_Kee_Laundry_Building,_1245_Main_St.,_Napa,_CA_9-5-2010_6-50-03_PM.JPG"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/123860038","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sam_Kee_Laundry_Building","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q14683853"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/california/napa-county/kee-sam-laundry-building-74000540/"}