{"nrhp_refnum":"98001553","name":"First Congregational Church","other_names":["United Church of Christ"],"category":"building","location":{"address":"165 E. Mill St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Porterville","county":"Tulare County","state":"CA","lat":36.068509051000035,"lon":-119.01276202199995,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1999-01-05","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Social History","Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A two-story wood-frame church building at 165 East Mill Street in Porterville, Tulare County, California, constructed in 1908 from plans by San Francisco Bay Area architects George C. Meeker and Francis W. Reed.","why_significant":"The nomination argues it is significant under Criterion A as an 'Institutional Church' that served as a social, cultural, recreational and educational center for Porterville and southern Tulare County from 1908 to 1936. It also meets Criterion C as the only example of Shingle/Bay Area Traditional design in Gothic Revival style on this scale in California's San Joaquin Valley.","narrative":"Completed in 1908 on a three-lot site that town founder Porter Putnam set aside for a church in 1864, this wood-frame building at Mill and Fourth Streets in Porterville was designed by Bay Area architects George C. Meeker and Francis W. Reed. It was planned as an Institutional Church, serving the whole community rather than only its members. The original design included an auditorium, a sunken meeting room, an indoor swimming tank and a second-floor gymnasium. Over the years it hosted a kindergarten, silent movies, lectures, recitals and Boy Scout meetings. Church-owned recreation facilities preceded comparable public ones in the area by a decade or more. A 1936 fire destroyed the south end, including the gymnasium, which was not rebuilt; the rest was restored as it had been. The exterior combines local stone with cedar shingles, and the paneled interior has stained glass windows showing oranges and citrus leaves. The nomination calls it the only building of its style and scale in the southern San Joaquin Valley.","period_of_significance":"1908 - 1936","architect_builder":"Meeker, George C.; Reed, Francis W. (San Francisco Bay Area architects)","architectural_style":"19th century Late Gothic Revival; Shingle Style; other: Bay Area Tradition","criteria":["A","C"],"status_note":"Described as in excellent condition, with interior and exterior looking much as they did 90 years earlier; still used for religious, meeting, education and music purposes.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:54:27.311583-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_CA/98001553.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/98001553/f41bfff386-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/98001553/f41bfff386-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY 3.0","author":"Bobak Ha'Eri","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:2009-0725-CA-Porterville-1stCongreg.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Bobak Ha'Eri</a>, <a href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY 3.0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:2009-0725-CA-Porterville-1stCongreg.jpg"},"district":{"nrhp_refnum":"16000468","name":"Big Creek Hydroelectric System Historic District","url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/districts/california/big-creek-hydroelectric-system-historic-district-16000468/"},"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/123862219","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_Congregational_Church_(Porterville,_California)","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q5452815"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/california/tulare-county/first-congregational-church-98001553/"}