{"nrhp_refnum":"82000960","name":"Croll Building","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"1400 Webster St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Alameda","county":"Alameda County","state":"CA","lat":37.771562147000054,"lon":-122.27621631899996,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1982-10-04","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Entertainment/Recreation","Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A commercial hotel and saloon building at 1400 Webster Street in Alameda, California, assembled from several wood-frame structures. The three-story corner section was built in 1879 as Britt's Hotel, and other sections were moved to the site around 1908.","why_significant":"The nomination argues it is a fine blend of Mansard and Italianate design and one of the earliest taverns in the Bay Area or California, in near-continuous use since 1879. It is also tied to the nearby Neptune Gardens bathing resort and amusement park. In the early twentieth century it housed and trained prominent boxers.","narrative":"At Webster Street and Central Avenue in Alameda, this commercial building combines several historic structures into one L-shaped, wood-frame complex. The three-story mansard-roofed corner portion was built in 1879 by Patrick Britt as a hotel and tavern. Around 1908, John G. Croll moved a two-story building and two smaller structures from his nearby amusement park and bathing resort, Croll's Gardens, and unified them architecturally with the original hotel. The facades combine Mansard and Italianate features, including bracketed cornices, curved dormers, and transoms. Inside, the original tavern keeps its tile flooring and a mahogany bar shipped around Cape Horn in 1902. The building matters for its design, for its status as one of the earliest taverns in the region, and for its link to the Gardens. Croll also housed famous boxers here, among them Jim Corbett and Jack Dempsey. Fire gutted the upper floors in 1945, and a 1980 rehabilitation converted them to offices while retaining the saloon.","period_of_significance":"1800-1899, 1900-","architect_builder":"Unknown (built in 1879 by Patrick Britt)","architectural_style":"Mansard and Italianate","criteria":["A","C"],"status_note":"Occupied and in commercial use; the tavern remains in operation and the upper stories were converted to offices in a recent rehabilitation. The condition is marked fair and altered.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:54:28.335635-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_CA/82000960.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/82000960/a68716a291-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/82000960/a68716a291-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 4.0","author":"Eugene Zelenko","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:USA-Alameda-Croll_Building-1.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Eugene Zelenko</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:USA-Alameda-Croll_Building-1.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/123858198","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Croll_Building","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q5187541"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/california/alameda-county/croll-building-82000960/"}