{"nrhp_refnum":"83001228","name":"U.S. Inspection Station/U.S. Custom House","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"Virginia and Tijuana Sts.","address_restricted":false,"city":"San Ysidro","county":"San Diego County","state":"CA","lat":32.542908313000055,"lon":-117.02833533399996,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1983-02-10","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Politics/Government","Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A one- to two-story Spanish Colonial Revival custom house and inspection station at Virginia and Tijuana Streets in San Ysidro, California, about fifty feet from the U.S.-Mexico border. It was designed in 1931-32 and built in 1932-33 by the Treasury Department's Supervising Architect's office.","why_significant":"The nomination argues for local significance in architecture and politics/government. It is a locally prominent example of a small early-1930s public building in the eclectic revival style of the Supervising Architect's office. It also symbolizes U.S.-Mexico relations, as for over twenty years it was the only U.S. building at the San Ysidro crossing, now the busiest on the border.","narrative":"Just fifty feet from the Mexican border in San Ysidro, California, this irregular E-shaped building served as a custom house and inspection station. Designed in 1931-32 and finished in 1933 by the Treasury Department's Supervising Architect's office under Acting Supervising Architect James A. Wetmore, it has stucco walls with terra cotta trim, dark-painted wood windows and doors, and a red clay mission tile roof topped with cupolas, chimneys and a spired tower. A tiled porch with a decorative balcony marks the main entrance. It was built as part of the large federal building program of the late 1920s and early 1930s, replacing an inadequate frame inspection station, and for over twenty years it was the only U.S. building at the crossing. A much larger inspection structure completed in 1974 now dwarfs it. Interiors have been heavily altered, and parts of the building are boarded up, but the exterior remains largely intact. Its architecture and its role in border commerce and government relations support its recognition.","period_of_significance":"1900-","architect_builder":"James A. Wetmore, Acting Supervising Architect (Supervising Architect's office, Treasury Department)","architectural_style":"Spanish Colonial Revival","criteria":[],"status_note":"Partly unused: the first-floor main section and rear wing are unoccupied and boarded up, the north end wing is used by GSA for garages and storage, and the second floor houses Customs Service offices. Maintenance is described as uneven, though the exterior is largely intact.","vacant_flag":null,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:54:27.855339-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_CA/83001228.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/83001228/90f62fe7a5-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/83001228/90f62fe7a5-1600.webp","licence":"Public domain","author":"National Register of Historic Places, National Park Service","credit_html":"National Register of Historic Places, National Park Service, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:U.S._Custom_House_(San_Ysidro,_California)_front.JPG"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/123861013","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Custom_House_(San_Ysidro,_California)","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q5846398"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/california/san-diego-county/u-s-inspection-station-u-s-custom-house-83001228/"}