{"nrhp_refnum":"77000330","name":"Scripps, George H., Memorial Marine Biological Laboratory","other_names":["Old Scripps Building"],"category":"building","location":{"address":"8602 La Jolla Shores Dr.","address_restricted":false,"city":"La Jolla","county":"San Diego County","state":"CA","lat":32.865049320000054,"lon":-117.25406742465057,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1977-11-10","is_nhl":true,"nhl_designated_date":"1982-05-20","areas_of_significance":["Science"],"significance_levels":["national"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A two-story reinforced concrete laboratory building at 8602 La Jolla Shores Drive, La Jolla, California, on the Scripps Institution of Oceanography campus. It was built 1908-1910 to a design by Irving Gill and is also called the Old Scripps Building.","why_significant":"The nomination presents it as the first monolithic concrete building designed and supervised by architect Irving Gill, and an early example of Kahn-method reinforced concrete. It is argued to be the oldest building in continuous use for marine science in the Americas, and the oldest of any major oceanographic research institution in the world. It also served as a teaching and research site where leading oceanographers worked and where wartime surf-prediction methods and a landmark oceanography textbook were developed.","narrative":"Built between 1908 and 1910 on a bluff above the Pacific at La Jolla, this plain two-story reinforced concrete laboratory was the first permanent building of the Scripps Institution of Oceanography. Architect Irving Gill designed it and supervised construction, using monolithic concrete, a flat parapeted roof, skylights, interior windows and north-lit rooms in place of ornament. The structure used Kahn-method reinforcing, an early development in concrete technology. Its significance also rests on its scientific role. It housed seminars and courses that produced the first Ph.D. in 1930, and it was a workplace for eleven future members of the National Academy of Sciences. Work done inside included the textbook The Oceans and wartime surf-prediction methods. Alterations, mostly in 1931, left the basic structure unchanged. A 1958 wooden annex was added at the rear. The building remained in use as research space, and an engineering study found it could be strengthened without visibly changing it.","period_of_significance":"1900-","architect_builder":"Irving Gill/Perl Acton","architectural_style":null,"criteria":[],"status_note":"In good condition and still in use as oceanographic research space; fund-raising for restoration was under way, and strengthening against earthquake loads was being studied.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:55:32.064236-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_CA/77000330.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/77000330/653f15b1ca-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/77000330/653f15b1ca-1600.webp","licence":"Public domain","author":"photographer not identified","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:SIOhistory.jpeg\" rel=\"noopener\">photographer not identified</a>, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:SIOhistory.jpeg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/123860986","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Old_Scripps_Building","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q3881528"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/california/san-diego-county/scripps-george-h-memorial-marine-biological-laboratory-77000330/"}