Downtown Hollister Historic District: 411 San Benito Street

Aren't the details of this building amazing?

This is the top of the historic commercial building at 411 San Benito Street. It's another contributing building in the Downtown Hollister Historic District, which is in the National Register of Historic Places. (Contributing buildings cannot be torn down without following certain measures.)

The building was constructed in 1907, after the original one on the site was destroyed by the 1906 Earthquake.  In the 1960s, either this storefront or the one to its right had a display of Buster Brown shoes. I always wanted a pair.

Downtown Hollister Historic District: 419 San Benito Street

The commercial building at 419 San Benito Street is one of the oldest contributing structures in the the Downtown Hollister Historic District. The single-story structure was built around 1880. The National Register of Historic Places notes that the parapet (the green protective wall along the roof's edge) may have been remodeled after the 1906 earthquake. It also notes that the storefront, with several windows in different shapes, was changed in the mid-1970s.

The last business that I recall being in the vacant building was the Acme Club. For many decades, the tavern was a place for many locals to unwind with a drink and a game of poker.  In 1929, it was the Fremont Cafe, according to an advertisement I found online in both the Santa Cruz Evening News and the San Jose News. The ad said:

When in Hollister,
Be it for Breakfast, Lunch or Dinner
Stop at FREMONT CAFE
419 San Benito Street
BOOTHS FOR LADIES

Downtown Hollister Historic District: The Old and Current City Hall Buildings

On the south side of Fifth Street, between San Benito and Monterey Streets, are the old and current City Hall buildings, which are both contributing historic structures in the Downtown Hollister Historic District.

339 Fifth Street — The Old City Hall

The Hollister City Hall was originally located at 339 Fifth Street. The first building was destroyed in the 1906 Earthquake. Two years later, the new beautiful two-story City Hall, designed by William H. Weeks, was completed. The west side of the building housed the Hollister Fire Department.

The building has many interesting decorative features. Click here to see a close-up of one of the figurines—brackets—at the top of the building. Once upon a time, the Old City Hall had a cupola. Click here to see vintage postcards of how the building looked over 100 years ago.

Today, the City of Hollister uses the first floor of this building for its utility payment center and offices for its building and planning divisions.

375 Fifth Street — The Current City Hall

Some of you may recognize the Classical Revival style of the current City Hall as being a design of many Carnegie Libraries. You're right. The current City Hall was once the city library. In 1910, the City of Hollister received a grant from the Andrew Carnegie Library Foundation to build the one-story reinforced concrete building. Completed in 1912, the building was designed by William Binder and constructed by E. J. Sparling. In the 1980s, the City built an addition at the rear for the City Council chambers.

There are so many wonderful elements to this building, such as the Ionic columns that flank the entry way and the fine details of the cornice across the top of the building. What impresses me the most is that the concrete was scored to look like granite blocks.

The Hollister Carnegie Library is entered in the National Register of Historic Places as part of the Downtown Hollister Historic District as well as individually. Want to see what the library looked like back in the day? Then, click here.

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Downtown Hollister Historic District: 135 5th Street

Who remembers the old post office on 5th Street? And, the beautiful cedar tree next to it?

The building is still there. It's now the Apostolic Assembly Bible Learning Center.  What's missing though is the cedar tree.

The old post office at 135 5th Street is the major contributing historic building on the eastern edge of the Downtown Hollister Historic District.  Built in 1935, the building was designed in the style of Spanish Colonial Revival.  One of the interesting features of the building is the arched entrance surrounded by fake voussoirs -- those ray-like lines. Actual voussoirs are wedges of stone or other material forming the units of the arch. I am definitely learning a lot of architectural stuff with this series.

Do any of you remember the awesome wooden mural that once hung in the old post office? It's now hanging at the new post office on Maple street.  Click here for a photo of the mural.

Downtown Hollister Historic District: 501 Monterey Street

The red brick Hollister United Methodist Church is another contributing historic building to the Downtown Hollister Historic District, standing at the district's western perimeter. The National Register of Historic Places registration form lists the building as being built around 1880. The brick church was actually built in 1910. It was the second building for the then Methodist Episcopal Church (South). The original church was a wooden structure built in 1872. The original sanctuary is used today as the congregation's social hall.

The architecture style of the two-story church is Late Gothic Revival. Everything about the church's facade is picturesque and romantic, from its pointed spires and square towers to its rounded roof,  inviting porch, and multi-paneled windows with pointed arches.

In 2012, the Hollister United Methodist Church celebrated its 150 anniversary. To read a bit about its history, click here.  If you'd like to see photos of the church's beautiful stained glass windows, click here.

I'm hooking up at Sundays in My City, hosted by the Unknown Mami. Come check out posts of other cities around the world by clicking here.

Downtown Hollister Historic District: 140 5th Street

Reflected in this window is one of the oldest commercial buildings in the Downtown Hollister Historic District. Built around 1880, the single-story building at 140 5th Street looks like quite small and compact. Go around the corner to East Street and you can see that it's nearly half a block long.

I'm linking up with Weekend Reflections. To see reflections that other bloggers have caught with their cameras, please click here.

Downtown Hollister Historic District: 725 San Benito Street

This two-story, reinforced concrete historic building in the Downtown Hollister Historic District was constructed around 1915. It is listed as 725 San Benito Street on the National Register of Historic Places registration form. The second floor shows its original face, while the first floor has been remodeled.

The registration form notes that the building was once the Winneville Hotel. Was it that originally? I have no idea. Does anyone? During the 1990s, the building was home to the Family Bargain Center. Today, the storefront is divided into three businesses:

• Smokey Pete's Smoke Shop, 727 San Benito Street
• Bella Mia Salon, 729 San Benito Street
• Eclectic Treasures, 731 San Benito Street

The ceiling in Eclectic Treasures still has the original tin tiles. Click here to see how gorgeous they look. Better yet, head over to the store. The other two shops may have the original ceiling, too.

Downtown Hollister Historic District: 101 Fifth Street

Today, most people in San Benito County know 101 Fifth Street as being the home of Pat's Place, a very cool thrift shop that raises money for the Community Food Bank of San Benito County.  Originally, the historic two-story building was a laundry called the Model French Laundry. It was constructed around 1934 by Joseph and Marie Latapie, according to Welcome to Historic Downtown Hollister, a walking tour pamphlet by Sharlene Van Rooy. The Latapies moved from San Francisco to Hollister after the 1906 earthquake and operated their laundry in two other locations previously to settling at 101 Fifth Street.

This is a contributing building to the Downtown Hollister Historic District. It was noted in the registration form submitted to the National Register of Historic Places for its parapet with a zig-zag band at the top to building and the tiled cornice with false vigas a foot or so below the parapet. The alluring arched doorway on the right side of the building was mentioned, too. I think the light fixture beside the doorway also gives the building its pizazz.

The storefront, with its anodized aluminum door and windows, was remodeled in the 1980s.

When I was a kid in the 1960s, I was fascinated with the Model French Laundry. The name always made made me think of the Eiffel Tower and I thought all French buildings had to look like this cute one. I never went into the laundry, but that did not stop me from imagining people inside speaking  French and having a special way of making the clothes they laundered look chic and ooh-la-la.

Downtown Hollister Historic District: 542 San Benito Street

One of the contributing historic buildings to the Downtown Hollister Historic District stands at 542 San Benito Street. Until a few years ago, it was home to Enterprise Electric. Several decades before that it was the K&S Market.  Today, the building is empty and up for sale.

The two-story commercial edifice was built around 1915, with the first floor being remodeled around 1970. The storefront has a modern look, while the second floor, which has four apartments, retains its original architectural style.

The ornamentation on the top of the second floor is quite handsome. Here's a partial description of the second story design from the registration form that was submitted in 1992 to the National Register of Historic Places:

". . .The parapet, which is the front (east) elevation, is divided into two curved sections. The cornice has a paneled band, a dentil course, and decorative brackets that appear to re-emerge above the paneling and give the effect of clamps. . . ."

Downtown Hollister Historic District

 

Over the next few weeks, I will be posting photos of the buildings that are part of the Downtown Hollister Historic District, which encompasses San Benito Street and intersecting streets between Fourth Street and South Street.

In 1992, the Downtown Hollister Historic District was entered into the National Register of Historic Places, which is administered by the National Park Service.  The district was nominated by the California Office of Historic Preservation for its pre-World War II look and character of a small city's downtown area. At the time, 54 buildings, constructed between 1880 and 1942, contributed to the historic nature of Downtown Hollister. Unfortunately, several of the buildings on San Benito Street were destroyed during two arson fires a few years later.  The nomination papers also cited 29 noncontributing buildings in the district, of which some were constructed during the significant time period.

If you'd like to read the registration form that was submitted in 1992 to the National Register of Historic Places, please click here. The document provides a description of the Downtown Hollister Historic District.

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Glancing Through a Cranny

Sitting between the Juan de Anza House and La Cosa Rosa Restaurant on Third Street in San Juan Bautista is a cute little fenced-in garden. Sometimes wild chickens like to roost there. That's what got me looking through the fence when I took this photo. I heard the chickens, but I wasn't fast enough to take a picture of them. This wooden dude, however, was going no where. He reminds me of Paul Newman.

Today is Monday Mellow Yellows, and that's where I'll be.  Come check out other mellow yellows with me by clicking here.

Hollister Through an Artist's Eyes

Original painting by Pen King
The photo is courtesy of Cindy Mackie.

Okay, dear Take 25 to Hollister Readers, you certainly recognize this block in downtown Hollister. That's right. It's the east side of San Benito Street, between 4th and 5th streets. Isn't the painting beautiful?

This oil painting of Hollister is owned by Cindy Mackie, who bought if from Ebay about two years ago. She said that she plugged in "Hollister California" in Ebay's search box and Voila!

The painter is Pen King. Through Google, I learned that the artist was born in China in 1964 and is now based in the United States.  He studied at the Guangxi Arts Institute in Nanning and became a full-time professional artist in the mid 1980s. Pen King creates original-knife textured paintings and does custom commissioned work from photos. Click here to read an article about the artist. 

Thank you, Cindy, for sharing the painting with us.

An Elephant of a Branch

The magnolia tree (at least that's what I think it is) in the center of O'Neill Drive is humongous. But, I had no idea its branches were so thick and enormous. I wonder when the tree was planted.

Magnolia trees are native to Southeastern United States and can grow up to 100 feet tall. California doesn't have the rainfall that the South does, so the heartiest trees in the right conditions may reach 80 feet tall.

Click here to see a full shot of the evergreen tree on O'Neill Drive, which I took last March.

A January Sunrise in San Benito County

I saw the sun peeking through some clouds over the rooftops this morning. I sooooo lucked out.

Want to know what the sky looks like in other parts of the world? Check out Skywatch Friday.

You Don't See Many of These Anymore

"Look, look," I said to the Husband, as we approached the corner of San Benito and South Street. "Newspaper vending machines!"

I get excited when I see blue mailboxes, too.

I've gotten old.

Clothing for Little Princes and Princesses on San Benito Street

Today is Worldless Wednesday. To check out posts from around the world, please click here.

Orange Beauties

These gorgeous plants are near the southeast corner of West and South Streets.  If I identified them correctly, then they are a type of aloe vera plant. Interestingly, they ought not to be in bloom yet. In general, they bloom during summer, but can also burst forth in the right conditions. That goes to show how crazy our weather is and how our climate has been changing.

I'm linking up with Our World Tuesday. Click here to check out what bloggers around the world are posting.

Toro Petroleum in Hollister

A few weeks ago, I came across this enormous tank truck while walking along McCray Street.  It was parked at the gas station with the four silo-sized gas tanks, near Walgreen's. I've always been curious about that station, but never enough to learn about it. Until now.

The station is one of four outlets for Toro Petroleum, which has headquarters in Salinas. It offers fuel and oil products and services to the farming, trucking, manufacturing, automotive, food machine, marine, and aviation industries. Wow! The things we can learn about our town from the Internet. If you're interested in learning more about that station on McCray Street, check out Toro's website.

San Juan Bautista Cemetery

"What do you want to do for your birthday?" the Husband asked me last month.

"For starters, I want to have a coffee and croissant at Vertigo Coffee, then walk over to the highest point in town and take pictures."

So, off to San Juan Bautista, we went. The breakfast was delicious, thank you very much, Vertigo. And, yes, we walked across town in the wonderful rain to the San Juan Bautista Cemetery.

What can I say? Cemeteries are interesting, especially the cemetery in San Juan. We can across many headstones of people who died in the late 1800s. I found it curious that back then the husband's name was more prominent on his wife's tombstone. 

The San Juan Bautista Cemetery, at the northwest end of the city, is also known as the Larios Cemetery for Don Manuel Larios, who deeded 10 acres of his rancho to San Juan for establishing a cemetery. To learn more about Don Larios and his family's plot, read Frank Perez's story Honoring His Family's Past.

Everything about a cemetery is fascinating. I wonder what may be the reason that loved ones placed certain decorations on the tombstones.

When I see a chair beside a tombstone, I imagine a loved one sitting and finding a calm of being there.

The Small Town Feel and Comfort

I just love it! This is looking south on College Street from the Ding-a-ling Cafe during breakfast. That cafe has some of the best salsa around. I like spreading it on my pancakes, followed by syrup. Yummmmm!

Hiking and Biking Nearby: Coyote Creek Trail

On New Year's Day, the Husband and I took a walk with friends at the southern end of Coyote Creek Trail in Morgan Hill, which is about 26 miles north of Hollister. It's a very scenic trail that anyone can enjoy, from babies in strollers to older folks like me who prefer to stroll. If you're walking, do keep your ears open for bicyclists coming up from behind. That all-of-a-sudden whistling you hear just may be an approaching bicyclist.

Coyote Creek Trail is over 18 miles long that runs through Santa Clara County. It has three sections that will eventually be connected. The longest segment is paved, and mostly flat, going from Morgan Hill to Tully Road.

For more information, check out these links:

• Coyote Creek Parkway
• San Jose, CA: Outoor Fun: Coyote Creek
• Yelp: Coyote Creek Trail and Bikeway 

 

Outstanding!

These cows are definitely out standing in their field above Quien Sabe Road. Nyuk, nyuk, nyuk.

Whooo-hooooo! It's the first day of our new adventure around the sun. May you all have a 2015 trip full of wonder and joy.