{"nrhp_refnum":"84000755","name":"Oakland YWCA Building","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"1515 Webster St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Oakland","county":"Alameda County","state":"CA","lat":37.80486036100007,"lon":-122.26816648199997,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1984-09-20","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Architecture","Social History"],"significance_levels":["state"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A five-story reinforced concrete building with a full basement at 1515 Webster Street in downtown Oakland, California, built in 1914 as the Oakland Young Women's Christian Association headquarters, designed by architect Julia Morgan.","why_significant":"The nomination argues the building is significant for its association with community social services and the Christian women's movement, and as the first of 17 YWCA buildings designed by Julia Morgan. It is described as a fine modified Italian Renaissance palace with polychromed terra cotta and a notable atrium. It also housed the first indoor swimming pool in an Oakland public building.","narrative":"Downtown Oakland's YWCA building at 1515 Webster Street was completed in 1914 to designs by Julia Morgan, the first of 17 YWCA buildings she designed. Five stories of reinforced concrete rise above a full basement, faced with rusticated brick and richly polychromed glazed terra cotta. Inside, a two-level atrium modeled on Bramante's Santa Maria della Pace in Rome forms the centerpiece, alongside an auditorium, gymnasium and a basement swimming pool, the first in an Oakland public building. The organization behind it began in 1877 as the Ladies Evangelical Philanthropic Society and became California's first YWCA. A 1913 fund drive led by H. C. Capwell raised $200,000 for construction. The building served as a home for young women arriving from rural areas and foreign countries, and later supported wartime workers. Of Morgan's Bay Area YWCA buildings, only this one survives, and it is regarded as one of her major works. Original design integrity remains high apart from the enclosed courtyard.","period_of_significance":"1914","architect_builder":"Julia Morgan, Architect; D. Z. Farquharson, builder","architectural_style":"Modified Italian Renaissance palace (Renaissance-inspired, Beaux-Arts training)","criteria":[],"status_note":"Occupied and in use by the YWCA; restoration work was carried out in 1980-81 and the original courtyard was later roofed over as an atrium.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:54:27.827716-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_CA/84000755.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/84000755/03ccb6ca5b-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/84000755/03ccb6ca5b-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"Sanfranman59","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Oakland_YWCA_(Oakland,_CA).JPG\" rel=\"noopener\">Sanfranman59</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:Oakland_YWCA_(Oakland,_CA).JPG"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/123858303","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/YWCA_Building_(Oakland,_California)","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q124727474"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/california/alameda-county/oakland-ywca-building-84000755/"}