{"nrhp_refnum":"86001986","name":"Bardsdale Methodist Episcopal Church","other_names":["Bardsdale United Methodist Church"],"category":"building","location":{"address":"1418 Bardsdale Ave.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Fillmore","county":"Ventura County","state":"CA","lat":34.371371561000046,"lon":-118.93290864799997,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1986-08-28","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Exploration/Settlement","Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A Carpenter Gothic Methodist Episcopal church at 1418 Bardsdale Avenue in the rural Bardsdale community near Fillmore, Ventura County, California, built in 1898 with additions in 1915 and 1926.","why_significant":"It is the only community building remaining from the original Bardsdale town settlement and one of the few surviving Carpenter Gothic buildings in the county. It reflects Southern California's late 19th-century boom and bust and the promotion of Bardsdale by Roys G. Surdham on land bought from Thomas Bard. It also illustrates the citrus ranching community that grew around it.","narrative":"Bardsdale Methodist Episcopal Church, built in 1898 near Fillmore in Ventura County, is a Carpenter Gothic building set among orange groves and mountains. Its original L-shaped form has a tall entrance tower with a steep roof, high-pitched gables, large leaded stained glass windows, and Gothic lancet-shaped trim. It is framed and sided in virgin redwood on a Sespe brownstone foundation, with a slate shingle roof. Additions in 1915 and 1926 used similar materials and scale, and the entrance was altered in 1983 with doors and glass salvaged from a Los Angeles church. The church matters as the only community building left from the original Bardsdale town, laid out by promoter Roys G. Surdham on land bought from Thomas Bard. Bard gave the church lot and one art-glass window, and the congregation hauled the foundation stone and built the church. The design probably came from a pattern book. The building recalls a town that never fully developed and the citrus ranchers who settled the area.","period_of_significance":"1800-1899","architect_builder":"Unknown","architectural_style":"Carpenter Gothic (late Carpenter Gothic Revival)","criteria":[],"status_note":"Occupied and in good condition, with additions and a 1983 change to the main entrance; still used as a church.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:54:27.802527-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_CA/86001986.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/86001986/37d2aa8853-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/86001986/37d2aa8853-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"Patrick Pelletier","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Bardsdale_United_Methodist_Church_2014_03.JPG\" rel=\"noopener\">Patrick Pelletier</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:Bardsdale_United_Methodist_Church_2014_03.JPG"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/123862318","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bardsdale_United_Methodist_Church","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q4860216"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/california/ventura-county/bardsdale-methodist-episcopal-church-86001986/"}