{"nrhp_refnum":"83001220","name":"Rankin Building","other_names":["Standard Concrete Products"],"category":"building","location":{"address":"117 W. 4th St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Santa Ana","county":"Orange County","state":"CA","lat":33.74820069000003,"lon":-117.86849365999996,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1983-02-24","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Commerce","Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A three-story commercial building at 117 West 4th Street, at the northeast corner of Fourth and Sycamore in downtown Santa Ana, Orange County, California. It was built in 1917 for the Rankin dry goods business, with George Preble and Elwing & Tedford named as builder/architect.","why_significant":"The nomination argues local significance for the building's role in Orange County's commercial history, as the county's first modern department store and its largest single retail establishment of its time. It is also tied to pioneer merchant John H. Rankin and his family, who were civic and business leaders. Its modified Chicago commercial style set it apart from the surrounding Beaux-Arts influenced two-story commercial buildings.","narrative":"Rising three stories at the corner of Fourth and Sycamore in downtown Santa Ana, this sand-colored brick commercial building was completed in 1917 for merchant John H. Rankin's dry goods business. It was built by Henry T. Rutherford under lease to Rankin. It was the first modern department store in Orange County, gathering millinery, china, jewelry and women's clothing under one roof, and it was the largest single retail establishment in the county until the World War II era. Its gray pressed-metal Corinthian cornice, brick pilasters, modified Chicago style upper windows and ceramic brick ground floor distinguished it from the two-story Beaux-Arts influenced buildings nearby. The Rankin family were pioneer merchants and civic leaders. Storefronts and interiors changed in 1950, 1965 and 1981, but the upper facade remains as originally built. These ties to local commerce and architecture are the grounds on which the building was recognized as significant in a local context.","period_of_significance":"1900-1917","architect_builder":"George Preble/Elwing & Tedford","architectural_style":"Modified Chicago commercial style","criteria":[],"status_note":"Occupied and in commercial use; interior remodeled in 1981 and storefronts rehabilitated, with condition described as excellent.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:54:26.979904-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_CA/83001220.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/83001220/1bd6bc596c-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/83001220/1bd6bc596c-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"Cbl62","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Rankin_Building_(Santa_Ana).jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Cbl62</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:Rankin_Building_(Santa_Ana).jpg"},"district":{"nrhp_refnum":"84000438","name":"Downtown Santa Ana Historic Districts (North, Government/Institutional and South, Retail)","url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/districts/california/downtown-santa-ana-historic-districts-north-government-institutional-and-south-r-84000438/"},"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/123860324","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rankin%27s","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q65067452"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/california/orange-county/rankin-building-83001220/"}