{"nrhp_refnum":"83001209","name":"Sacred Heart Catholic Church","other_names":["Catholic Church"],"category":"building","location":{"address":"507 E. 4th St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Alturas","county":"Modoc County","state":"CA","lat":41.48697711700004,"lon":-120.53654657299995,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1983-06-30","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Architecture","Religion"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A small Gothic Revival stone church at 507 E. Fourth Street in Alturas, Modoc County, California, begun in 1883 and completed in 1910, with a 1929 brick rectory behind it.","why_significant":"The nomination argues the church is tied to the establishment of the Roman Catholic Church in northeastern California and is the main center of Catholic worship in Modoc County. It is the oldest church in Alturas and the only survivor of the town's early church architecture. It is also the county's only example of its type and period of Gothic Revival styling.","narrative":"Sacred Heart Catholic Church sits on a rocky hill in a residential part of Alturas. It is a simplified Gothic Revival building of light grey welded andesitic tuff, with two-foot-thick walls, corner buttresses topped by Celtic crosses, lancet openings and stained glass windows. Construction began in 1883 under Father Patrick Kirley, who founded the parish, but a shortage of funds left the shell unfinished for more than 26 years. In 1910, with help from the largely Protestant community, Father T. E. Horgan saw it completed. A stone sacristy was added in 1928, and a brick rectory followed in 1929. After a fire on Easter Sunday in 1916, townspeople again helped pay for repairs. Today it is the last remaining historic church building in Alturas and one of the last in the county, valued as a notable example of Gothic Revival styling and as a focal point of community life.","period_of_significance":"1883-1910","architect_builder":null,"architectural_style":"Gothic Revival (simplified)","criteria":[],"status_note":"Occupied and in use as a church; condition listed as excellent to good, with minor alterations since 1910.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:54:27.915702-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_CA/83001209.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/83001209/85f0d3c432-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/83001209/85f0d3c432-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"Ian Poellet","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Sacred_Heart_Catholic_Church_1_-_Alturas_California.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Ian Poellet</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:Sacred_Heart_Catholic_Church_1_-_Alturas_California.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/123859879","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sacred_Heart_Catholic_Church_(Alturas,_California)","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q7397122"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/california/modoc-county/sacred-heart-catholic-church-83001209/"}