{"nrhp_refnum":"81000182","name":"Tuolumne County Courthouse","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"41 W. Yaney Ave.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Sonora","county":"Tuolumne County","state":"CA","lat":37.98549477600005,"lon":-120.38409447299995,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1981-09-17","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Politics/Government","Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A three-story classical revival county courthouse with an 88-foot clock tower at 41 West Yaney Avenue in downtown Sonora, Tuolumne County, California, completed in the spring of 1900 to designs by Wm. Mooser and Son.","why_significant":"The courthouse has symbolized county government in California's Gold Rush country since 1900, housing all county departments. It replaced a deteriorated wooden courthouse of 1853 and gave the county larger, fireproof space for records. It is also valued as an architecturally intact work of the San Francisco firm Wm. Mooser and Son.","narrative":"Rising from the center of a square block in downtown Sonora, this three-story courthouse has served Tuolumne County government since the spring of 1900. San Francisco architects Wm. Mooser and Son designed it, and their plans were chosen over nine others. The building replaced a wooden courthouse that had occupied the site since 1853 and that residents considered dilapidated and too small. The new structure combines a scored-concrete first floor, buff Roman pressed brick above, and Colusa sandstone trim. A clock tower 88 feet high, with a bell that still chimes hourly, marks the north entrance, which has Corinthian columns and a balconied portico. Inside are imported European floor tiles, local Columbia marble wainscoting, and a cast iron stairway. It originally housed every county department and provided fire-resistant storage for records. Its architectural integrity remains largely intact, and it continues to function as part of county government.","period_of_significance":"1898-1900","architect_builder":"Wm. Mooser and Son, Architects","architectural_style":"Classical Revival","criteria":[],"status_note":"Described as in excellent condition, occupied, and still serving county government on its original site; the only significant alteration was the addition of mezzanines in three offices in 1967-1970.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:55:31.777349-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_CA/81000182.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/81000182/c6497346ad-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/81000182/c6497346ad-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"Karl98007","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Tuolumne_County_Courthouse.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Karl98007</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:Tuolumne_County_Courthouse.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/123862301","wikipedia":null,"wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q133571483"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/california/tuolumne-county/tuolumne-county-courthouse-81000182/"}