{"nrhp_refnum":"86000109","name":"Feraud General Merchandise Store","other_names":["1903 Building"],"category":"building","location":{"address":"2 and 12 W. Main St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Ventura","county":"Ventura County","state":"CA","lat":34.28089047700007,"lon":-119.30090106699998,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1986-01-23","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Commerce","Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A one to one-and-a-half story, L-shaped unreinforced brick commercial building at 2 and 12 West Main Street in Ventura, California, built in 1903 by H.A. Giddings for merchant and baker Jules Feraud.","why_significant":"It is architecturally significant as one of only two virtually unaltered turn-of-the-century commercial brick buildings remaining in Ventura's downtown. It also represents an early Ventura business tied to the French, Italian and German immigration of the 1870s. Feraud's store and bakery grew into one of the city's largest general merchandise stores, known for sourdough French bread.","narrative":"Built in 1903 at the corner of West Main Street and Ventura Avenue, this L-shaped brick commercial building served as the general store and bakery of Jules Feraud, a French native who arrived in Ventura in 1875. Builder H.A. Giddings constructed it in a classical commercial style, with a metal bracketed cornice, arched openings and a frieze that once carried the store's painted signs. Inside are an original brick bakery oven, a fireplace and floor tracks once used to deliver flour. Feraud's bakery was celebrated along the coast for its sourdough French bread, and the store also sold groceries, hay and feed. The building replaced an earlier wood-frame structure during a period of rapid growth tied to the arrival of the Southern Pacific coast railroad. It is the oldest building remaining on its block and one of only two largely unaltered turn-of-the-century commercial brick buildings downtown. It now houses a furniture store and barbershop.","period_of_significance":"1900-","architect_builder":"H.A. Giddings (builder)","architectural_style":"Turn-of-the-century classical commercial brick style","criteria":[],"status_note":"Occupied and in commercial use, housing a furniture store and barbershop; rehabilitation is planned to retain historic character.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:54:26.844944-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_CA/86000109.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/86000109/583f4d4a63-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/86000109/583f4d4a63-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"Doncram","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:FeraudGeneralMerchandiseStore_2008july_2sm.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Doncram</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:FeraudGeneralMerchandiseStore_2008july_2sm.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/123862334","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Feraud_General_Merchandise_Store","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q5443763"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/california/ventura-county/feraud-general-merchandise-store-86000109/"}