{"nrhp_refnum":"79000500","name":"Bank of Los Banos Building","other_names":["The Old Bank Building"],"category":"building","location":{"address":"836, 840, 842 and 848 6th St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Los Banos","county":"Merced County","state":"CA","lat":37.06099161900005,"lon":-120.84768137099996,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1979-08-24","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Commerce","Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A two-story reinforced concrete commercial building at the northeast corner of Sixth and I Streets in the main business core of Los Banos, Merced County, California, built 1923-1925 to designs by the H.H. Winner Company.","why_significant":"The nomination argues the building is significant both historically and architecturally. It reflects the commercial empire of Henry Miller and Charles Lux and the rebuilding of downtown Los Banos after the 1919 fire. Its restrained neo-classical design shows a transition from period revivals toward modernism.","narrative":"Occupying a 100-foot-square corner lot at Sixth and I Streets, this two-story reinforced concrete building served as the main bank and commercial block of downtown Los Banos. Construction began in March 1923 and finished in early 1925, following a 1919 fire that destroyed much of the business area near the railroad depot. The Miller and Lux enterprises, whose founders Henry Miller and Charles Lux built a cattle, land and irrigation empire, planned it to house their major local operations, with offices upstairs. Architect H.H. Winner and contractor M.M. Finlayson produced a seven-bay facade finished in grani-lithic stone, with a dentiled cornice, Greek fret bands and a honeysuckle-decorated canopy. Its smooth, restrained surfaces and lack of pilasters suggest a shift from classical revival toward modernism. The Bank of Italy bought it in 1926, and banking continued until 1965. Changes have been minor, mostly replaced doors, removal of cattle-head ornament in the 1930s and some interior covering.","period_of_significance":null,"architect_builder":"Architect: H.H. Winner Company; Contractor: M.M. Finlayson","architectural_style":"Neo-classicism (transitional toward modernism)","criteria":[],"status_note":"Condition listed as good and altered; the bank moved out in 1965 and the building stood vacant until recently, and the form says it houses numerous local businesses.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:55:31.959472-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_CA/79000500.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/79000500/01da7267f9-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/79000500/01da7267f9-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"Saeidb","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Bank_of_Los_Banos_Building.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Saeidb</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:Bank_of_Los_Banos_Building.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/123859835","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bank_of_Los_Banos_Building","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q14681578"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/california/merced-county/bank-of-los-banos-building-79000500/"}