{"nrhp_refnum":"97000924","name":"San Diego State College","other_names":["San Diego State Teachers College","San Diego State University"],"category":"district","location":{"address":"5300 Campanile Dr.","address_restricted":false,"city":"San Diego","county":"San Diego County","state":"CA","lat":32.77671237800004,"lon":-117.07184746792593,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1997-09-04","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Architecture","Social History","Education"],"significance_levels":["state"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A historic district of 14 resources at the core of San Diego State University (formerly San Diego State Teachers College), at 5300 Campanile Drive in San Diego, California. The campus was designed in the late 1920s and built from 1930 onward in Spanish Colonial Revival style.","why_significant":"The district is argued to represent an evolving twentieth-century philosophy of education, shaped by presidents Edward L. Hardy and Walter R. Hepner, who envisioned the campus as a 'monastery of education.' It is also a notable example of Southern California Spanish Colonial Revival architecture and reflects significant accomplishments of the Works Progress Administration.","narrative":"The historic core of San Diego State University is a campus district planned in the late 1920s and built from 1930, when the college moved to a new mesa-top site overlooking Alvarado Canyon. Architect Howard Spencer Hazen designed the original buildings in Spanish Colonial Revival style with Moorish and Mission Revival details, grouping them around quadrangles like a Spanish monastery. The Academic Building's southern entry, with round towers, a rusticated arch and a bell tower, is the best-known feature. Land was donated by Alphonzo Bell's company, and Mark Daniels contributed landscape planning. Works Progress Administration labor added buildings, an arcade, benches and Donal Hord's Aztec statue during the 1930s and early 1940s. The district was recognized for its link to President Edward Hardy's holistic vision of education, continued by Walter Hepner, for its architecture, and for its WPA work. Despite later alterations and the loss of most of Aztec Bowl, the core retains its original character and remains in use.","period_of_significance":"1930-1947","architect_builder":"Howard Spencer Hazen, architect; Mark Daniels, landscape architect/urban planner; Alphonzo E. Bell, real estate developer","architectural_style":"Late nineteenth- and twentieth-century revivals / Spanish Colonial Revival (with strong Mission Revival and Moorish elements)","criteria":["A","B","C"],"status_note":"Historic core remains in educational use as part of the university; many buildings have had utilities upgrades and interior changes, Aztec Bowl was largely demolished and excluded, and Scripps Cottage and the Montezuma statue were relocated.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:54:26.998902-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_CA/97000924.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/97000924/28dcbb4fd4-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/97000924/28dcbb4fd4-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY 1.0","author":"Wikipedia User:Geographer","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Sdsumain.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Wikipedia User:Geographer</a>, <a href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/1.0\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY 1.0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Sdsumain.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/123860976","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/San_Diego_State_University_campus","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q11703521"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/california/san-diego-county/san-diego-state-college-97000924/"}