{"nrhp_refnum":"87001014","name":"Malabar Branch","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"2801 Wabash Ave.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Los Angeles","county":"Los Angeles County","state":"CA","lat":34.05054539200006,"lon":-118.19725152699999,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1987-05-19","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Community Planning and Development","Architecture","Social History"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A one-story brick branch library at 2801 Wabash Avenue in the Boyle Heights area of Los Angeles, built in 1927 to designs by architect William Lee Woollett, in a revival style reminiscent of rural Latin America.","why_significant":"The nomination argues the library has played a significant role in the cultural history of Boyle Heights, serving readers in many languages. It is one of only eight remaining branches built with the City's first Library Bond funds of 1925. It is also a notable design by Woollett reflecting the rural period of Latin America.","narrative":"Malabar Branch Library, at 2801 Wabash Avenue in Boyle Heights, Los Angeles, is a one-story brick building completed in 1927. Architect William Lee Woollett gave it a side-gable plan with a tile roof, brick laid in a waving pattern with untroweled joints, fieldstone planters and entry detailing, wrought-iron railings, and a cast stone bas relief above the recessed entry. Inside, a central charging desk separates the children's and adult sections, with a fireplace and a hand-hewn wooden truss ceiling. The library traces its origins to 1915, when local groups campaigned for a book service that began in a church and later moved to a store building before the present structure opened. Records from 1923 show books being read in Armenian, French, German, Hungarian, Italian, Russian, Serbo-Croatian, Spanish, Yiddish and English. It is one of eight surviving branches funded by the City's first Library Bond in 1925, and a distinctive design by Woollett.","period_of_significance":null,"architect_builder":"William Lee Woollett","architectural_style":"Revival style reminiscent of rural Latin America","criteria":[],"status_note":null,"vacant_flag":null,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:54:27.717805-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_CA/87001014.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/87001014/ba731ae52a-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/87001014/ba731ae52a-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"Los Angeles","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Malabar_Branch_Library,_Los_Angeles,_California.JPG\" rel=\"noopener\">Los Angeles</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:Malabar_Branch_Library,_Los_Angeles,_California.JPG"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/123857544","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malabar_Branch_Library","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q6740734"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/california/los-angeles-county/malabar-branch-87001014/"}