{"nrhp_refnum":"97000297","name":"First Congregational Church of Riverside","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"3504 Mission Inn Ave.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Riverside","county":"Riverside County","state":"CA","lat":33.98176421900007,"lon":-117.371940586,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1997-04-03","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Architecture"],"significance_levels":["state"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A Spanish Colonial Revival church with a 125-foot Churrigueresque corner tower, at 3504 Mission Inn Avenue in downtown Riverside, California, built in 1913 to designs by Myron Hunt and Elmer Grey, with a 1905 Mission Revival parsonage on the same lot.","why_significant":"The nomination argues the church is an early example of the Churrigueresque phase of the Spanish Colonial Revival in California, predating the 1915 San Diego exposition often credited with launching the style's popularity. Its design evolved from a Mission Revival competition entry into a Spanish Colonial Revival work under Hunt. Scholars cited in the form call it one of the first major Spanish Colonial buildings in Southern California and highly influential regionally.","narrative":"First Congregational Church of Riverside is a two-story, basement-level church on the southwest corner of Mission Inn Avenue and Lemon Street in downtown Riverside. Completed in 1913, it has brick double-wall construction, a reinforced concrete tower rising 125 feet, and a roof of terra cotta tile. Cast stone ornament is concentrated on the tower, the entrance arcade and one transept window group. A 1905 Mission Revival parsonage, moved to the site in 1912, stands to the south. Pasadena architects Myron Hunt and Elmer Grey won a 1910 design competition; Hunt took over the project and revised the design into the Churrigueresque phase of Spanish Colonial Revival before construction began in 1912. The nomination considers it an early example of that phase in California, built before the 1915 Panama California Exposition. Architectural historians quoted in the form regard it as influential on Southern California design. The church also supported Riverside's Mediterranean image along the Seventh Street corridor.","period_of_significance":"1913","architect_builder":"Hunt, Myron & Grey, Elmer; Hunt, Myron","architectural_style":"Spanish Colonial Revival","criteria":["C"],"status_note":"Still used as a religious facility; the form reports a high level of integrity with few alterations, apart from a parking lot, a removed chimney, and a 1956 sanctuary remodel.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:54:28.03549-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_CA/97000297.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/97000297/bed8049089-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/97000297/bed8049089-1600.webp","licence":"Public domain","author":"MissionInn.Jim","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:FirstCongregationalChurch20090821f.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">MissionInn.Jim</a>, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:FirstCongregationalChurch20090821f.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/123860466","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_Congregational_Church_of_Riverside","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q5452861"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/california/riverside-county/first-congregational-church-of-riverside-97000297/"}