{"nrhp_refnum":"98000712","name":"Golden State Mutual Life Insurance Building","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"4261 S. Central Ave.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Los Angeles","county":"Los Angeles County","state":"CA","lat":34.00630468000003,"lon":-118.25683727999996,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1998-06-26","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Black","Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A two-story Spanish Colonial Revival commercial building at 4261 South Central Avenue in Los Angeles, built in 1928 as the first home office of the Golden State Mutual Life Insurance Company.","why_significant":"It housed one of the largest African American owned insurance companies in the nation, the first such company west of the Mississippi River, on Central Avenue, the historic heart of Los Angeles's African American community. It is also an early work of African American architect James H. Garrott and a good example of Spanish Colonial Revival commercial design. It was listed under Criteria A and C.","narrative":"Built in 1928 at 4261 South Central Avenue in Los Angeles, this two-story Spanish Colonial Revival building was the first permanent home office of the Golden State Mutual Life Insurance Company. The company, founded in 1925, was the first insurance company owned and managed by African Americans west of the Mississippi River, offering coverage at a time when other insurers refused Black customers or charged discriminatory rates. The building has a red tile roof, arched openings, a scalloped parapet and Churrigueresque ornament around the entrance. It was designed by James H. Garrott, a self-taught African American architect, and built by African American contractor Louis Blodgett. Central Avenue was the commercial and cultural center of Black Los Angeles from about 1910 to 1950, and this building is the last reminder of the self-owned financial institutions of that era. The company left in 1949. A 1996 rehabilitation adapted the building for a day care facility and two apartments, and a 1945 rear addition was removed.","period_of_significance":"1928-1948","architect_builder":"Architect: James H. Garrott; Builder: Louis Blodgett","architectural_style":"19th and 20th Century Revivals: Spanish Colonial Revival","criteria":["A","C"],"status_note":"Rehabilitated in 1996 (certified rehabilitation); the ground floor houses a day care facility and the upper floor holds two residential units.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:54:27.823782-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_CA/98000712.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/98000712/61f9a5249c-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/98000712/61f9a5249c-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"Los Angeles","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Golden_State_Mutual_Life_Insurance_Building,_Los_Angeles.JPG\" rel=\"noopener\">Los Angeles</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:Golden_State_Mutual_Life_Insurance_Building,_Los_Angeles.JPG"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/123859158","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Golden_State_Mutual_Life_Insurance_Building_(1928)","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q5579831"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/california/los-angeles-county/golden-state-mutual-life-insurance-building-98000712/"}