{"nrhp_refnum":"91001749","name":"US Inspection Station-Calexico","other_names":["US Border Station","Old Customs Building"],"category":"building","location":{"address":"12 Heffernan Ave.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Calexico","county":"Imperial County","state":"CA","lat":32.64714238100004,"lon":-115.49130471299998,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1992-02-14","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Politics/Government","Architecture","Hispanic"],"significance_levels":["national"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A customs and immigration border station complex at 12 Heffernan Avenue in downtown Calexico, California, on the U.S.-Mexico border, built in 1933. It has a two-story main Customs building, an attached Public Health Annex and a separate Garage and Inspection shed.","why_significant":"The nomination presents the station as an exceptional example of regional styles and materials in 1930s federal buildings, designed in Spanish Colonial Revival and similar to the border station at Tecate. It is also tied to the federal public building program of the Hoover era, and its construction is unusually well documented in the local newspaper. It retains a high degree of design integrity despite alterations.","narrative":"Built in 1933 at the Calexico crossing on the U.S.-Mexico border, this customs and immigration station consists of a two-story main building, an attached one-story Public Health Annex and a separate garage and inspection shed. The buildings are brick masonry covered in cream stucco, with red clay tile roofs, wrought iron balconies, arched openings and a terra cotta cupola. They reflect the Spanish Colonial Revival style and a federal preference in the 1930s for local design traditions and regional materials. The station was part of a large federal building program begun under President Hoover, and local businessmen raised funds for land to keep the project alive when budget cuts threatened it. The cornerstone names the Treasury Secretary and the Acting Supervising Architect. Alterations include a replaced porte cochere, new doors and remodeled interiors, yet the exterior keeps its original character. The public lobby, stair and second floor still convey the original interior, and the complex has been in continuous government use since construction.","period_of_significance":null,"architect_builder":"James A. Wetmore, Acting Supervising Architect (named on the cornerstone, 1932); individual designers of the federal buildings were not credited.","architectural_style":"Spanish Colonial Revival","criteria":[],"status_note":"Continuously occupied since construction; used by federal immigration and customs offices, with the annex housing an INS investigation unit and the basement mostly used for storage.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:54:28.074726-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_CA/91001749.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/91001749/904d614f76-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/91001749/904d614f76-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"Cbl62","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:United_States_Inspection_Station,_Calexico,_California.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Cbl62</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:United_States_Inspection_Station,_Calexico,_California.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/123858813","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/US_Inspection_Station-Calexico","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q133267491"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/california/imperial-county/us-inspection-station-calexico-91001749/"}