{"nrhp_refnum":"78000772","name":"Independence Hall","other_names":["Scout Hall"],"category":"building","location":{"address":"129 Albion Ave.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Woodside","county":"San Mateo County","state":"CA","lat":37.42864400000008,"lon":-122.26032499999997,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1978-08-03","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Architecture","Social History"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A one-and-a-half-story wood-frame community meeting hall at 129 Albion Avenue in Woodside, San Mateo County, California, built in 1881-84 by local carpenters from local lumber and moved to its present site in 1894.","why_significant":"The nomination calls it a well-known pioneer landmark and one of five surviving original buildings of the Woodside village community. It served for most of its history as the town's meeting place, voting site, and venue for church services, dances, plays and later Scout activities. It is also noted as an example of California pioneer-era architecture.","narrative":"Independence Hall is a small wood-frame meeting hall at 129 Albion Avenue in Woodside, California. Local carpenters built it from local lumber in the early 1880s after the town's earlier meeting place, Starlight Hall, was torn down. In 1894 it was moved about 300 feet to its current lot. For decades it served as the village's gathering place, hosting the county's first rural Congregational church services, elections, dances, plays and minstrel shows. An association of local citizens sold shares to support it. It was sold in 1919, closed by court order in 1921 after rowdy dances, and renovated in 1944 as Scout Hall for youth activities. It closed again in the 1960s when funds for upkeep ran out. The building shows a provincial blend of Greek Revival and Italianate styling, with hand-hewn beams and square nails upstairs. It is considered one of five surviving original buildings of the village, and residents hoped to relocate and restore it as a community meeting place.","period_of_significance":"1800-1899","architect_builder":"no record (built by local carpenters)","architectural_style":"Provincial adaptation of Greek Revival; Italianate","criteria":[],"status_note":"Described as in good condition but unoccupied and closed since about 1965; the owner planned to reuse the site, and the town sought to move the hall to the nearby Woodside Elementary School grounds to save it.","vacant_flag":true,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:55:31.729857-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_CA/78000772.pdf"},"photo":null,"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/123861520","wikipedia":null,"wikidata":null},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/california/san-mateo-county/independence-hall-78000772/"}