{"nrhp_refnum":"87001017","name":"Muir, John, Branch","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"1005 W. Sixty-fourth St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Los Angeles","county":"Los Angeles County","state":"CA","lat":33.98133106200004,"lon":-118.29100214699997,"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 1005 W. 64th Street in South-Central Los Angeles, built in 1930 in the Italian Renaissance style to designs by architect Henry F. Withey.","why_significant":"The nomination argues the library is an architecturally distinguished public building in a neighborhood with few noteworthy designs, reflecting the City's commitment to high-quality public architecture in the 1920s. It has also served as a social and cultural center for the community. It is one of several branch libraries nominated as a thematic group.","narrative":"John Muir Branch Library is a one-story brick building at 1005 W. 64th Street in South-Central Los Angeles, completed in 1930 and designed by local architect Henry F. Withey in the Italian Renaissance style. A limestone entry with an arched opening, Doric columns, a broken pediment and a cartouche of an open book marks the symmetrical facade. The side walls have tall arched windows separated by Levanto marble Corinthian columns, and the interior has a wooden truss ceiling. The branch began in 1923 with neighborhood support, using rent-free quarters offered by businessman F. W. Braun, and was named for the California naturalist and writer John Muir. The present site was bought in 1929. Its design suits the single-family character of the surrounding streets while standing out architecturally. It illustrates the quality of 1920s public building in Los Angeles and has long served as a cultural and social center for the community. It is part of a thematic group of city branch libraries.","period_of_significance":null,"architect_builder":"Henry F. Withey (architect)","architectural_style":"Italian Renaissance","criteria":[],"status_note":"Described as retaining a strong sense of time and place and expected to remain an important community asset; it has a community support group that raises money for books.","vacant_flag":null,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:54:26.832837-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_CA/87001017.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/87001017/2db2172b4c-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/87001017/2db2172b4c-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"Los Angeles","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:John_Muir_Branch_Library,_Los_Angeles.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:John_Muir_Branch_Library,_Los_Angeles.JPG"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/123857565","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Muir_Branch_Library,_Los_Angeles","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q6249707"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/california/los-angeles-county/muir-john-branch-87001017/"}