{"nrhp_refnum":"80000816","name":"Standard Oil Building","other_names":["Newlin Hall"],"category":"building","location":{"address":"7257 Bright Ave.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Whittier","county":"Los Angeles County","state":"CA","lat":33.975709152000036,"lon":-118.03642636899997,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1980-06-09","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Industry","Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A small complex of interconnected Mission Revival style buildings arranged around a central courtyard at 7257 Bright Avenue in downtown Whittier, California. The original office building dates to 1914, with additions in 1918 and 1922.","why_significant":"The nomination argues it is an important early corporate office building in Southern California and one of the oldest remaining office buildings in Whittier. It served as the Producing Department headquarters of Standard Oil Company of California, the company's first department headquarters outside San Francisco. It is also a good example of the Mission Revival style, which the company chose deliberately for its regional image.","narrative":"Built in 1914 at the corner of Bright Avenue and Penn Street in downtown Whittier, this small group of stucco-covered brick buildings was the Southern California producing headquarters of Standard Oil Company of California. Designed by Los Angeles architects Alfred W. Rea and Charles W. Garstang in the Mission Revival style, it features arched windows, red tile gabled roofs with exposed rafters, and a central courtyard. A garage with an office floor above was added in 1922, and an engineering building came in 1918. The company chose the style to link its image to Southern California's past and landscape. The complex was its first department headquarters outside San Francisco, following a large purchase of oil holdings in West Coyote and East Whittier. Standard Oil outgrew the site and moved to Los Angeles in 1930. Whittier College bought it in 1942, used it as Newlin Hall for dormitory and office space, and sold it in 1979 to owners planning restoration.","period_of_significance":null,"architect_builder":"A.J. Davis/Alfred W. Rea & Charles W. Garstang","architectural_style":"Mission Revival (Mission Style)","criteria":[],"status_note":"Listed as unoccupied and vacant at the time of nomination; the form says it was sold by Whittier College in 1979-80 to new owners who planned restoration and mixed-use development.","vacant_flag":true,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:55:31.365236-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_CA/80000816.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/80000816/b66476c5c6-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/80000816/b66476c5c6-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 4.0","author":"Los Angeles","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Standard_Oil_Building,_Whittier.JPG\" rel=\"noopener\">Los Angeles</a>, <a href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY-SA 4.0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Standard_Oil_Building,_Whittier.JPG"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/123859546","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Standard_Oil_Building_(Whittier,_California)","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q7598273"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/california/los-angeles-county/standard-oil-building-80000816/"}