{"nrhp_refnum":"83001183","name":"Bakersfield California Building","other_names":["The Bakersfield Californian"],"category":"building","location":{"address":"1707 Eye St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Bakersfield","county":"Kern County","state":"CA","lat":35.374922344000026,"lon":-119.02048944299997,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1983-03-10","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Commerce","Architecture","Communications","Social History"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"The Bakersfield Californian Building at 1707 Eye Street in Bakersfield, Kern County, California, is the headquarters of a daily newspaper. It was built in 1925-26 as a 3-story Italian Renaissance Revival building, with a detached Rest House and later additions.","why_significant":"The nomination argues the building is architecturally and historically significant as the home of The Bakersfield Californian, the direct descendant of Kern County's first newspaper and the county's primary news source. It is also a tribute to longtime publisher Alfred E. Harrell. The building still serves its original purpose with its important design elements intact despite earthquakes and additions.","narrative":"Home to a daily newspaper serving all of Kern County, this Bakersfield building at 1707 Eye Street was completed in 1926 in the Italian Renaissance Revival style. Three stories of reinforced concrete and steel framing are faced in reddish-brown brick, with cast stone balconies, wrought-iron railings, a grand entry of paired decorated columns, and a whimsical round turret at the northeast corner. A small detached Rest House, dedicated to the women of Kern County, stands beside it. The interior lobby follows a Mediterranean courtyard theme. The brick walls were reinforced and restored after the 1952 earthquake, and additions in 1938, 1964 and 1973 changed the appearance only modestly. The building matters as the base of the paper descended from Kern County's first newspaper, founded in 1866, and as a memorial to publisher Alfred E. Harrell, who bought the paper in 1897 and led it through decades of civic involvement. Architects were Henry Eissler and Charles H. Biggar.","period_of_significance":"1900-","architect_builder":"Henry Eissler/Charles H. Biggar","architectural_style":"Italian Renaissance Revival","criteria":[],"status_note":"Occupied and still in use as the newspaper's headquarters; condition marked good, on its original site.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:54:26.84111-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_CA/83001183.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/83001183/84e205f482-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/83001183/84e205f482-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY 3.0","author":"Bobak Ha'Eri","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:2009-0726-CA-Bakersfield-Californian.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Bobak Ha'Eri</a>, <a href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY 3.0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:2009-0726-CA-Bakersfield-Californian.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/123858842","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bakersfield_Californian_Building","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q4849281"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/california/kern-county/bakersfield-california-building-83001183/"}