Hellman Street Craftsman Historic District Survey Long Beach, California
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Long Beach Craftsman Historic District Hellman Street Craftsman Historic District Survey Long Beach, California FINAL REPORT October 30, 2020 WJE No. 2018.2442.2 PREPARED FOR: City of Long Beach Long Beach Development Services | Planning Bureau 411 West Ocean Boulevard, 2nd Floor Long Beach, California 90802 PREPARED BY: Wiss, Janney, Elstner Associates, Inc. 225 South Lake Avenue, Suite 500 Pasadena, California 91101 626.696.4650 tel Long Beach Craftsman Historic District Hellman Street Craftsman Historic District Survey Long Beach, California Michelle Sandoval Michael Ford Senior Associate Senior Associate FINAL REPORT October 30, 2020 WJE No. 2018.2442.2 PREPARED FOR: City of Long Beach Long Beach Development Services | Planning Bureau 411 West Ocean Boulevard, 2nd Floor Long Beach, California 90802 PREPARED BY: Wiss, Janney, Elstner Associates, Inc. 225 South Lake Avenue, Suite 500 Pasadena, California 91101 626.696.4650 tel Long Beach Craftsman Historic District Hellman Street Craftsman Historic District Survey Long Beach, California CONTENTS Chapter 1 - Background and Methodology .............................................................................................. 1 Background ................................................................................................................................................... 1 Survey Methodology ..................................................................................................................................... 1 Chapter 2 - Context History of the Survey Area....................................................................................... 4 Development of Long Beach ......................................................................................................................... 4 Hellman Street Craftsman Historic District .................................................................................................. 13 Study Area Description ............................................................................................................................... 27 Primary Buildings ........................................................................................................................................ 33 Chapter 3 - Classification of Architectural Styles and Types ............................................................... 44 Classification of Architectural Styles and Types ......................................................................................... 44 Architectural Styles ..................................................................................................................................... 44 Building Types ............................................................................................................................................. 54 Chapter 4 - Survey Summary and Recommendations .......................................................................... 62 Period of Significance ................................................................................................................................. 62 Contributing and Non-Contributing Buildings .............................................................................................. 62 District Boundary ......................................................................................................................................... 65 Future Research and Considerations ......................................................................................................... 68 Bibliography .............................................................................................................................................. 69 FINAL REPORT | WJE No. 2018.2442.2 | OCTOBER 30, 2020 Long Beach Craftsman Historic District Hellman Street Craftsman Historic District Survey Long Beach, California CHAPTER 1 - BACKGROUND AND METHODOLOGY Background At the request of the City of Long Beach Development Services Planning Bureau, Wiss Janney Elstner Associates, Inc. (WJE) has prepared this summary report of the intensive survey completed at the Hellman Street Craftsman Historic District (District) and proposed expansion areas. The historic district was established October 27, 1992, by City of Long Beach Ordinance No. C-7051. The City of Long Beach (City) seeks to update its existing District survey, including updates to contributing and non-contributing resource lists, re-evaluation and delineation of character-defining features, and documentation and evaluation of boundary expansions. The District boundaries and contributing resources were identified in the 1992 City ordinance. The District is located in central Long Beach and with its current boundaries, spans from the north side of East 9th Street to the south side of Hellman Street, between Orange and Walnut Avenues. The District includes a concentration of Craftsman bungalows as well as Spanish Colonial Revival, Italian Renaissance Revival, Colonial Revival, and Folk Victorian style structures constructed between 1902 and 1928. The District originally consisted of single-family homes to serve a working-class population. The original District survey identified 187 properties, of which 155 properties were determined to have contributing structures. The remaining 32 properties were listed as non-contributing because they were either built outside the period of significance or had been significantly altered. The majority of the non-contributing structures were located along Hellman Street at the south end of the District. As part of the survey update, properties outside but adjacent to the existing District boundaries were surveyed and considered for a possible expansion of the existing District. The City identified eight additional study areas adjacent to the current District boundary to be included for evaluation as part of this update. The primary area of proposed expansion is to the east and includes the east side of Walnut Avenue, and Gaviota, Rose, Gardenia, and Cherry Avenues between 7th and 10th Streets. This expansion area would extend the survey area nearly to the Rose Park Historic District. Other proposed areas of expansion include the southern half of North Toledo Walk; Hellman Street between Orange Avenue and Alamitos Avenue; a cluster of residences on Cerritos Avenue, just south of East 10th Street; an enclave of small bungalows on East 9th Street, west of Orange Avenue; the north end of Hoffman Avenue; and a few resources along East 7th and East 10th Streets. The proposed expansion areas would include a total of 276 properties. The survey included re-evaluation of all structures within the original historic district, as well as survey and evaluation of the additional 276 properties, in relation to the historic contexts and period of significance established in the original District designation. Survey Methodology Survey Team Professional services were performed by individuals who meet the Secretary of the Interior’s Professional Qualifications Standards (Federal Register Notice, Vol. 48, No. 190, pp. 44738-44739, 1983). The survey team consisted of Michael Ford and Michelle Sandoval. Ms. Sandoval served as the project manager, and both Mr. Ford and Ms. Sandoval performed the site work and developed the summary report. Ms. Deborah Slaton was the reviewer for the summary report. Archival Research Archival research was performed to develop a context history for the District and potential expansion areas. Repositories included the Long Beach Historical Society and the Long Beach Public Library. Selected resources used to develop the context history are listed below. A complete list of references is provided in footnotes and at the end of this report. FINAL REPORT | WJE No. 2018.2442.2 | OCTOBER 30, 2020 Page 1 Long Beach Craftsman Historic District Hellman Street Craftsman Historic District Survey Long Beach, California Historical maps and atlases of the study area, including the 1902, 1914, and 1949 Sanborn Fire Insurance Maps and plat maps of the region United States Geological Surveys (USGS) maps from 1902, 1904, and 1925 City Directories published between 1904 and 1929 Los Angeles Tax Assessor’s records City of Long Beach building permit records Newspaper articles reviewed at the Historical Society of Long Beach Digital photographs reviewed through the Long Beach Public Library Digital Archive and the Historical Society of Long Beach photo collection Field Survey WJE performed an intensive-level survey of the existing District and proposed expansion areas. The survey included documentation of each lot, detailed survey of the primary structure on the site, and inventory of secondary structures on the site. For each lot, a primary structure was identified for survey. Typically, this structure was the primary structure visible from the public right of way. Where more than one potential primary building was identified, such as at corner lots with multiple street-facing structures, the more historic structure was identified as the primary structure. Secondary structures typically included detached garages and additional residential buildings. The survey included an inventory of the site features; documentation of exterior materials of all primary and secondary structures visible from the public right-of-way including sidewalks and alleys; and evaluation of character-defining features, potential previous alterations, and integrity. Each primary structure on the lot was photographed using a digital camera. Secondary structures,