{"nrhp_refnum":"85000122","name":"US Post Office-Chico Midtown Station","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"141 W. 5th St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Chico","county":"Butte County","state":"CA","lat":39.727390064000076,"lon":-121.83891345399996,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1985-01-11","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A small combined post office and federal building at 141 West 5th Street in Chico, Butte County, California, begun in 1912 and completed in 1914 under the Office of the Supervising Architect, Oscar Wenderoth.","why_significant":"The nomination argues the building is a well-preserved and rare example of the post offices built during Oscar Wenderoth's tenure as Supervising Architect. It is a notable interpretation of Classical and Renaissance Revival styling, and few buildings of this type survive in California. It also has urban design importance in relation to the town's civic center.","narrative":"Chico Midtown Station is a two-story post office and federal building at 141 West 5th Street, begun in 1912 and finished in 1914. Its granite-faced front has five round arches with bracketed keystones, each carried on Doric half-columns, beneath a red tile roof. Inside, the public lobby has a terracotta tile floor and marble baseboard, and the original service windows survive at its western end. The design is attributed to the office of Supervising Architect Oscar Wenderoth, though the individual designers are unknown. The building served as the city's Main Post Office until 1960. It was recognized as a well-preserved and uncommon example of small California post offices of its era, and as a refined example of Beaux-Arts and Second Renaissance Revival design. Its position near City Plaza, in the middle of the commercial and civic district, also adds to its local importance. Alterations include hung ceilings, added post office boxes and a new side entrance.","period_of_significance":"1900-1941 (form marks the 1900s period; specific dates 1912-1914)","architect_builder":"OSA/Oscar Wenderoth","architectural_style":"Second Italian Renaissance / Classical and Renaissance Revival (Beaux-Arts Classicism)","criteria":[],"status_note":"Marked as occupied and in excellent condition, with alterations including added hung ceilings, new post office boxes and a new west side entrance; it served as the Main Post Office until 1960 and remains a postal station.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:54:28.041153-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_CA/85000122.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/85000122/eb6dc92738-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/85000122/eb6dc92738-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"Sseroff","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Chico_Midtown_Station_Post_Office.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Sseroff</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:Chico_Midtown_Station_Post_Office.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/123857362","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chico_Midtown_Station","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q5096437"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/california/butte-county/us-post-office-chico-midtown-station-85000122/"}