{"nrhp_refnum":"86000068","name":"Irvine Bean and Growers Association Building","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"14972 Sand Canyon Ave.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Irvine","county":"Orange County","state":"CA","lat":33.67470406100006,"lon":-117.75772453899998,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1986-01-13","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Commerce","Agriculture","Exploration/Settlement","Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A large industrial agricultural complex at 14972 Sand Canyon Avenue in East Irvine, Orange County, California, beside the Santa Fe Railway tracks. It combines an 1895 wood-frame lima bean processing plant and warehouse with a 1947 concrete grain elevator.","why_significant":"The nomination argues it is the last surviving example of its type in Orange County and the centerpiece of the county's most significant agricultural center. It processed and stored lima beans and grain for the tenant farm system of the Irvine Ranch. The 1947 granary is described as the largest and most efficient ever built in Orange County, and it is also argued to be a rare and exceptional granary design.","narrative":"Beside the Santa Fe Railway tracks in East Irvine stands a long, narrow industrial complex built to handle the Irvine Ranch's lima bean and grain crops. The oldest part dates to 1895 and is a wood-frame building clad in corrugated metal, with a central processing plant and a long warehouse. Towers, catwalks, and a sorting room were added in 1915. In 1947 a three-story concrete grain elevator of hexagonal silos replaced a matching earlier building on the north end. Farmers brought sacked beans by wagon, where they were sampled, screened, hand-sorted by women, fumigated, and stored for rail shipment. The complex served the tenant farm system begun by James Irvine, which kept much of the ranch intact until the 1960s. The nomination describes it as the last surviving building of its type in Orange County and a rare visible link to the area's agricultural past amid the modern city of Irvine. It is occupied and used for storing corn.","period_of_significance":"1947 to 1965 for the granary (addendum); specific dates listed as 1895 and 1947","architect_builder":"The Irvine Company","architectural_style":null,"criteria":["A","B","C"],"status_note":"Described as in good condition, occupied, and presently used for storing corn; the bean and grain operation shut down in the late 1960s.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:54:27.820782-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_CA/86000068.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/86000068/8a55edd01b-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/86000068/8a55edd01b-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 4.0","author":"Bluesnote","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Irvine_Bean_and_Growers_Association_Building.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Bluesnote</a>, <a href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY-SA 4.0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Irvine_Bean_and_Growers_Association_Building.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/123860252","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Irvine_Bean_and_Growers_Association_Building","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q106638745"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/california/orange-county/irvine-bean-and-growers-association-building-86000068/"}