{"nrhp_refnum":"94001161","name":"Ramona Town Hall","other_names":["Town Hall of Nuevo","Barnett Hall"],"category":"building","location":{"address":"729 Main St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Ramona","county":"San Diego County","state":"CA","lat":33.044659473000024,"lon":-116.86430745999996,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1994-09-26","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Social History","Politics/Government"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A two-story adobe community hall with brick veneer at 729 Main Street in Ramona, San Diego County, California, designed by William Sterling Hebbard, built by T. O. Samuels, and dedicated in 1894.","why_significant":"The nomination argues that the hall was the center of civic and social life in Ramona (called Nuevo until 1895) and the surrounding backcountry from 1894 into the 20th century. It housed the first public library, the first high school classes, the first bank, a courthouse, a theatre, and meetings of many community groups. It is also a surviving work of architect William Sterling Hebbard.","narrative":"Ramona Town Hall is a two-story community hall on Main Street in Ramona, California, dedicated on February 22, 1894. Architect William Sterling Hebbard designed it for local pioneer William Augustus Barnett, and contractor T. O. Samuels built it with 22-inch-thick walls of local adobe faced in pressed brick. The T-shaped plan includes a 40-by-80-foot main hall with a stage, two ground-floor wings, and an upstairs space lit by dormer windows. Barnett donated the hall partly to provide a suitable place for community dances and to establish a public library. Over the decades it also held the town's first high school classes, a bank, a courtroom, a museum, a movie venue, and meetings of groups such as the Masons and the Grange. Rain damage in the 1890s and later adobe failures led to repairs and alterations. The hall closed in 1986 for restoration and seismic strengthening, and first-phase work finished in 1994.","period_of_significance":"1894 - 1944","architect_builder":"Hebbard, William Sterling/Architect; Samuels, T. O./Builder","architectural_style":"Romanesque","criteria":["A"],"status_note":"Closed in 1986 for restoration and seismic retrofit; Phase One work, including seismic retrofit of the front portion and facade restoration, was completed in February 1994.","vacant_flag":null,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:54:28.13843-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_CA/94001161.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/94001161/ea64c5da03-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/94001161/ea64c5da03-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 4.0","author":"JERRY &amp; ROY KLOTZ. M.D.","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:RAMONA_TOWN_HALL_SAN_DIEGO_COUNTY_CA.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">JERRY &amp;amp; ROY KLOTZ. M.D.</a>, <a href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY-SA 4.0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:RAMONA_TOWN_HALL_SAN_DIEGO_COUNTY_CA.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/123860953","wikipedia":null,"wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q6099330"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/california/san-diego-county/ramona-town-hall-94001161/"}