{"nrhp_refnum":"92000967","name":"Sacramento City Library","other_names":["Central Library"],"category":"building","location":{"address":"828 I St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Sacramento","county":"Sacramento County","state":"CA","lat":38.58162642000008,"lon":-121.49481618699997,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1992-07-30","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Architecture","Social History"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"The Sacramento City Library (Central Library) is a three-story brick and terra cotta library at 828 I Street in downtown Sacramento, California, opened in 1918 as a Carnegie-funded building designed by San Francisco architect Loring Rixford.","why_significant":"It is a distinctive example of the Italian Renaissance style and part of the California Carnegie Libraries group. It served for decades as the main public library resource in interior California. It also reflects the city's library history, from the first library of 1850 to the free public library of 1879.","narrative":"Located at 828 I Street in downtown Sacramento, the Central Library is a three-story Italian Renaissance building of rosy buff brick with ornamental terra cotta made by Gladding McBean of Lincoln. Its second floor is double height and lit by tall arched windows, and composite columns support a broken pediment over the central entrance. Architect Loring Rixford of San Francisco designed it with an emphasis on efficient work areas and a plain, dignified exterior. Carnegie funding of $100,000 paid for it, a large sum compared with grants to other communities. The library opened in April 1918 and succeeded earlier libraries dating to 1850, including a free public library established in 1879. It served as the main public resource center in interior California. A recent expansion was built as a separate addition with a glass galleria, leaving the original building largely intact on the exterior. The period of significance ends in 1942 because exceptional significance was not established beyond that date.","period_of_significance":"1918-1942","architect_builder":"Rixford, Loring, architect","architectural_style":"Italian Renaissance","criteria":["A","C"],"status_note":"Library use continues; the building was closed during recent construction to modernize and enlarge the library, and now houses special collections of social and historical significance. A separate new building and glass galleria were added.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:54:27.884766-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_CA/92000967.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/92000967/338ddb3914-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/92000967/338ddb3914-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"Shortride","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Sacramento_City_Library.JPG\" rel=\"noopener\">Shortride</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:Sacramento_City_Library.JPG"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/123857732","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sacramento_City_Library","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q7396966"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/california/sacramento-county/sacramento-city-library-92000967/"}