{"nrhp_refnum":"86003668","name":"Helme-Worthy Store and Residence","other_names":["Worthy Building and Residence"],"category":"building","location":{"address":"513--519 Walnut St. and 128 Sixth St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Huntington Beach","county":"Orange County","state":"CA","lat":33.65879989000007,"lon":-118.00262598499995,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1987-03-31","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Architecture","Exploration/Settlement"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A two-story Western Falsefront commercial building (1904) and an adjacent two-story 1880s residence, moved to the site in 1903, at 513-519 Walnut Street and 128 Sixth Street in Huntington Beach, Orange County, California.","why_significant":"The store is the only surviving Western Falsefront commercial building in south and central Orange County and the only pre-1910 commercial building in the city to keep its original front facade. The house is the oldest in Huntington Beach. Both are tied to Matthew E. Helme, a first Board of Trustees member and fourth mayor who shaped the city's early services and government.","narrative":"Two early buildings on Walnut and Sixth Streets in Huntington Beach preserve the look of the town's first settlement years. One is a two-story Western Falsefront store built in 1904 for the M. E. Helme House Furnishing Company, with its wooden cornice, lap siding, large transom windows and a central stairway to upstairs apartments. The other is a farmhouse dating to the 1880s, moved into town in 1903 from the countryside between Santa Ana and Huntington Beach, making it the oldest house in the city. Matthew E. Helme, who owned both, was on the first Board of Trustees and served as mayor. He worked on water service, fire equipment, street paving and lighting, gas bonds and the city manager system. The store is the only Western Falsefront building left in south and central Orange County, and the pair are described as the clearest visual reminders of early Huntington Beach, since the rest of the downtown commercial district has lost its original character.","period_of_significance":"1903-1917","architect_builder":null,"architectural_style":"Western Falsefront (store); simple farmhouse style (residence)","criteria":[],"status_note":"The house is in good condition and lived in by a member of the original family. The store has a furniture restorer and a dance studio on the ground floor, with apartments above, and restoration has begun on one apartment.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:54:28.338263-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_CA/86003668.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/86003668/51525bb9b9-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/86003668/51525bb9b9-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"Epolk at en.wikipedia","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Helme-worth_store_and_residence.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Epolk at en.wikipedia</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:Helme-worth_store_and_residence.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/123860238","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Helme%E2%80%93Worthy_Store_and_Residence","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q16983801"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/california/orange-county/helme-worthy-store-and-residence-86003668/"}