{"nrhp_refnum":"95000785","name":"St. Thomas Aquinas Chapel","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"130 W. Ojai Ave.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Ojai","county":"Ventura County","state":"CA","lat":34.44794117200007,"lon":-119.24801080299994,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1995-06-29","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Community Planning and Development"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A small Mission Revival chapel at 130 West Ojai Avenue in Ojai, Ventura County, California, built in 1918 to designs by the San Diego firm of Mead and Requa, with an original perimeter wall and entry arch and a non-contributing 1951 parish hall.","why_significant":"The chapel is one of five major downtown buildings and structures planned by philanthropist Edward D. Libbey to turn Ojai's main street into a unified Mission Revival streetscape between 1916 and 1922. It is significant under Criterion C in Community Planning and Development at the local level, reflecting City Beautiful ideals of harmony and order. It qualifies under the religious-property consideration for its design and planning role, not for religious doctrine.","narrative":"St. Thomas Aquinas Chapel is a small Mission Revival building on Ojai Avenue in Ojai, California. Completed in 1918 and designed by the San Diego firm of Mead and Requa, it has hollow clay tile walls finished in stucco, a red tile roof, and a three-story terraced bell tower. A low tile wall with an ornate entry arch surrounds the grounds. The chapel replaced Ojai's first Catholic church, a wooden building lost in the 1917 fire. Toledo glass manufacturer Edward D. Libbey encouraged its construction as part of a plan to give downtown Ojai a unified Mission Revival character, linked by bell towers, arcades and arched entrances. The chapel was one of five major buildings and structures in that plan, inspired by City Beautiful ideals of order and beauty. The original parish hall was replaced in 1951, and the windows and doors were changed in 1944, but the front elevation remains original. The city acquired the property in 1993, and it is now vacant.","period_of_significance":"1918","architect_builder":"Requa, Richard; Mead, Frank (Mead and Requa)","architectural_style":"Late 19th and 20th Century Revivals: Mission Revival","criteria":["C"],"status_note":"The chapel and parish hall are vacant, awaiting new use by the Chamber of Commerce and the Ojai Historical Society and Museum. The Catholic church held its last Mass there in 1992 and sold the property to the City of Ojai in 1993.","vacant_flag":true,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:54:27.413422-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_CA/95000785.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/95000785/a6e6c15d38-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/95000785/a6e6c15d38-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"Patrick Pelletier","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Ojai_Valley_Museum_2014_02.JPG\" rel=\"noopener\">Patrick Pelletier</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:Ojai_Valley_Museum_2014_02.JPG"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/123862370","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St._Thomas_Aquinas_Chapel_(Ojai,_California)","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q7591907"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/california/ventura-county/st-thomas-aquinas-chapel-95000785/"}