{"nrhp_refnum":"78000642","name":"St. Joseph's Basilica","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"1109 Chestnut St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Alameda","county":"Alameda County","state":"CA","lat":37.76638037400005,"lon":-122.25469513699994,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1978-09-18","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A Roman Catholic church building at 1109 Chestnut Street in Alameda, California, built in 1921 to replace a Gothic-style church that burned in 1919. It is designed in the Spanish Colonial Revival style.","why_significant":"The nomination argues the building is a fine, high-ranking example of Spanish Colonial Revival architecture in the Bay Area, with artistic decoration of the highest quality. Its designer, H. A. Minton, was a notable San Francisco Bay Region architect. It was also elevated to the rank of Basilica in 1972, one of few in the western United States.","narrative":"Completed in 1921 on Chestnut Street in Alameda, St. Joseph's Basilica replaced a Gothic-style church lost to fire in 1919. The land had originally been bought by the Sisters of Notre Dame for a convent and school. Harvard-educated architect H. A. Minton designed the building in the Spanish Colonial Revival style, using reinforced concrete with a plaster surface and a red tile roof. The front is marked by a curvilinear parapet, a tiled bell tower dome, and an ornate cast-concrete entrance. Inside, a barrel-vaulted nave, stained glass, a Lourdes-style grotto, and mosaics designed by Isabel and Edith Piczek stand out. The church seats 752. The nomination ranks it high among Spanish Colonial Revival buildings in the Bay Area. In 1972 Pope Paul VI raised it to the rank of Basilica, one of only a handful in the western United States, citing parish devotion, Catholic education, and architecture.","period_of_significance":"1920-1921","architect_builder":"H. A. Minton","architectural_style":"Spanish Colonial Revival","criteria":[],"status_note":"Listed as occupied and in religious use, with unrestricted public access.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:55:31.734635-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_CA/78000642.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/78000642/3dbadb1038-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/78000642/3dbadb1038-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"Sanfranman59","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:St._Joseph%27s_Basilica_(Alameda,_CA).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:St._Joseph%27s_Basilica_(Alameda,_CA).JPG"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/123858343","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Basilica_of_St._Joseph,_Alameda","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q4867386"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/california/alameda-county/st-josephs-basilica-78000642/"}