Seal Beach City Hall
Also known as: Old Seal Beach City Hall
Approximate location: the National Park Service places this pin arbitrarily within the property, not at a surveyed point (stated accuracy ±12 m).
Why it's listed
Old Seal Beach City Hall is a two-story civic building on a corner lot near downtown Seal Beach, California. Completed in 1929 to designs by Santa Ana architect W. Horace Austin, it reflects the Spanish-influenced Mediterranean Revival style of the late 1920s. Its features include a multi-gabled roof of adobe tile, plastered facades, and a central tower bay with a pyramidal roof. The entry has a large arched opening lined with colored glazed tiles and an ornamented balcony above. Voters approved funding of $50,000 in a January 1929 bond election, after an earlier 1928 proposal failed to gain the required two-thirds majority. The building housed all city departments until 1969, when a new city hall was built on an adjacent lot. It is the only substantial Spanish/Mediterranean Revival building in the city and marks the period when Seal Beach gained its first volunteer fire department and permanent library and grew into a year-round community.
Significance in brief: It was the first and largest municipal facility in the growing seaside town and housed all city departments until 1969. It is the only substantial Spanish/Mediterranean Revival building remaining in Seal Beach and retains its architectural integrity. It also symbolized the growth of Seal Beach into a permanent year-round community.
Machine-generated summary. This summary was generated by a language model from the official nomination document and has not been reviewed line by line by an editor. It may contain errors. Check the source document before relying on any detail. Source: nomination document (PDF) · National Archives catalog entry. NRHP reference 83001221, listed August 11, 1983. Summary generated October 2026 (model claude-sonnet-5-5, prompt v1.0-2026-10-29, confidence high).
Key facts
| Address | 201 8th St., Seal Beach |
|---|---|
| County | Orange County |
| Listed | August 11, 1983 |
| Reference number | 83001221 |
| Resource type | Building |
| Period of significance | 1900-1929 (specific dates May 1929-Sept. 1929) |
| Architect / builder | Architect - W. Horace Austin; Builder - C. Haverlandt |
| Architectural style | Mediterranean Revival / Spanish Revival |
| Areas of significance | Politics/Government, Architecture |
| Level of significance | Local |
| Status (as stated in the nomination) | Described as in good condition but in need of surface repairs and upgrading, and unused at the time of the form; owned by the City of Seal Beach and adjoining the present city hall. |
| Acreage | 0.3 |
| Coordinates | 33.74207, -118.10572 (NPS GIS) |
What listing means for this property
For a publicly owned building or structure, listing mainly matters when federal funds, permits or licences are involved: projects then go through Section 106 review so effects on the property are considered. Listing also strengthens applications for preservation grants and, for leased income-producing uses, can enable the federal rehabilitation tax credit.
Noted as vacant in the nomination. Nomination documents can be decades old; current status may differ. If you are considering buying an empty listed property, read the due-diligence checklist.
General information, not legal or tax advice. Rules change; confirm with your State Historic Preservation Office or a qualified adviser.
Sources and further reading
- National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places database (snapshot May 2026), reference 83001221.
- Nomination form (PDF, National Archives) — catalog entry
- Wikidata Q133346502
- This listing as JSON
Last updated October 2026. Found an error? See the editorial policy for how to report it.