{"nrhp_refnum":"77000361","name":"Bard, Elizabeth, Memorial Hospital","other_names":["Bard Hospital"],"category":"building","location":{"address":"121 N. Fir St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Ventura","county":"Ventura County","state":"CA","lat":34.28236984500006,"lon":-119.28931941899998,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1977-11-11","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Health/Medicine","Architecture","Social History"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A two-story, pseudo-Spanish Mission-style hospital building at 121 N. Fir Street in Ventura, California, opened on January 1, 1902 on a hill overlooking the city.","why_significant":"The building is one of Ventura's most prominent visual landmarks and is associated with Dr. Cephas Little Bard, Ventura County's first doctor, who opened it in memory of his mother. It is also argued to be a good example of Californian Mission Revival architecture, a style that emerged in the 1890s.","narrative":"Perched on a hill at 121 N. Fir Street, Bard Hospital is a two-story Mission Revival building with stucco over lath and plaster, a red tile roof, a bell tower on the east wing, a second-floor veranda facing the ocean and a 52-foot porch. It opened on January 1, 1902, founded by Dr. Cephas Little Bard in memory of his mother, Elizabeth, and financed by his brother, Senator Thomas R. Bard. Dr. Bard, Ventura County's first doctor, was the hospital's first patient and died there that April. He also researched anthrax in livestock. The building held 14 private rooms and two wards, with rounded interior corners and antiseptic tiling intended to limit dirt and dust. A retaining wall of Sespe brown stone borders the property, and a circular drive surrounds the building. Local newspapers called it a landmark and a monument to its founder, and it represents the Mission Revival style that grew popular in California during the 1890s.","period_of_significance":"1900-","architect_builder":null,"architectural_style":"Mission Revival (pseudo-Spanish Mission style)","criteria":[],"status_note":"Listed as occupied, privately owned and in deteriorated condition, with restricted public access; used for educational purposes.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:55:32.02581-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_CA/77000361.pdf"},"photo":null,"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/123862316","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elizabeth_Bard_Memorial_Hospital","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q5362376"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/california/ventura-county/bard-elizabeth-memorial-hospital-77000361/"}