National Register of Historic Places Registration Form
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NPS Form 10-900 OMB No. 1024-0018 United States Department of the Interior National Park Service National Register of Historic Places Registration Form This form is for use in nominating or requesting determinations for individual properties and districts. See instructions in National Register Bulletin, How to Complete the National Register of Historic Places Registration Form. If any item does not apply to the property being documented, enter "N/A" for "not applicable." For functions, architectural classification, materials, and areas of significance, enter only categories and subcategories from the instructions. 1. Name of Property Historic name: Yim Quon Building_____________________________________________ Other names/site number: _TMK: (1) 1-7-002:009_________________________________ Name of related multiple property listing: __Chinatown Historic District (#73000658, 1973)______________________________ (Enter "N/A" if property is not part of a multiple property listing ____________________________________________________________________________ 2. Location Street & number: _75 North King Street_________________________________________ City or town: _Honolulu_______State: _HI__________ County: _Honolulu____________ Not For Publication: Vicinity: ___________________________________________________________ _________________ 3. State/Federal Agency Certification As the designated authority under the National Historic Preservation Act, as amended, I hereby certify that this nomination ___ request for determination of eligibility meets the documentation standards for registering properties in the National Register of Historic Places and meets the procedural and professional requirements set forth in 36 CFR Part 60. In my opinion, the property _X__ meets ___ does not meet the National Register Criteria. I recommend that this property be considered significant at the following level(s) of significance: ___national ___statewide _X__local Applicable National Register Criteria: _X_A ___B _X_C ___D Signature of certifying official/Title: Date ______________________________________________ State or Federal agency/bureau or Tribal Government In my opinion, the property meets does not meet the National Register criteria. Signature of commenting official: Date Title : State or Federal agency/bureau or Tribal Government 1 United States Department of the Interior National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form NPS Form 10-900 OMB No. 1024-0018 Yim Quon Building Honolulu, HI Name of Property County and State ______________________________________________________________________________ 4. National Park Service Certification I hereby certify that this property is: entered in the National Register determined eligible for the National Register determined not eligible for the National Register removed from the National Register other (explain:) _____________________ ______________________________________________________________________ Signature of the Keeper Date of Action ____________________________________________________________________________ 5. Classification Ownership of Property (Check as many boxes as apply.) Private: X Public – Local Public – State Public – Federal Category of Property (Check only one box.) Building(s) X District Site Structure Object Sections 1-6 page 2 United States Department of the Interior National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form NPS Form 10-900 OMB No. 1024-0018 Yim Quon Building Honolulu, HI Name of Property County and State ______________________________________________________________________________ Number of Resources within Property (Do not include previously listed resources in the count) Contributing Noncontributing _____1______ _____________ buildings _____________ _____________ sites _____________ _____________ structures _____________ _____________ objects _____1______ ______________ Total Number of contributing resources previously listed in the National Register ____1____ ____________________________________________________________________________ 6. Function or Use Historic Functions (Enter categories from instructions.) _COMMERCE/TRADE; general store ___________________ ___________________ ___________________ ___________________ ___________________ ___________________ Current Functions (Enter categories from instructions.) _COMMERCE/TRADE; restaurant (first floor) _DOMESTIC; two dwelling units (second floor) ___________________ ___________________ ___________________ ___________________ _____________________________________________________________________________ 7. Description Architectural Classification (Enter categories from instructions.) _LATE 19TH & EARLY 20TH CENTURY AMERICAN MOVEMENTS _Commercial Style___ ___________________ Sections 1-6 page 3 United States Department of the Interior National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form NPS Form 10-900 OMB No. 1024-0018 Yim Quon Building Honolulu, HI Name of Property County and State ______________________________________________________________________________ ___________________ ___________________ Materials: (enter categories from instructions.) Principal exterior materials of the property: _Brick/Plaster Narrative Description (Describe the historic and current physical appearance and condition of the property. Describe contributing and noncontributing resources if applicable. Begin with a summary paragraph that briefly describes the general characteristics of the property, such as its location, type, style, method of construction, setting, size, and significant features. Indicate whether the property has historic integrity.) ______________________________________________________________________________ Summary Paragraph The Yim Quon Building is a Two-Part Commercial Building located in the Chinatown Historic District in Honolulu that was erected in 1886 in the Commercial Style typical of the American Movements of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The building is two stories in height, with a high parapet and flat cornice that conceals a front-gabled roof. It appears to be the oldest building in the district and is constructed of brick and coated with plaster. Although the Yim Quon building had been identified as a contributing property to the Chinatown Historic District when it was established in 1973, the building had suffered from alteration and neglect. In 2015, it was acquired by Sunset international, LLC and rehabilitated in 2016. As a result of that work, undertaken with guidance from the National Park Service, the building retains its historic integrity of design, materials, and workmanship through retention of its massing, fenestration, and the majority of its original fabric. The setting of the surrounding Chinatown Historic District has functioned as a vibrant, dense, and diverse commercial district throughout the period of significance and to the present day. Although the styles and materials used for surrounding buildings evolved into the mid-20th century, the overall function, scale, and ethnic character of the district remains intact. Similarly, the building’s continued commercial use within this thriving ethnic enclave allows it to maintain its integrity of feeling and association. Section 8 page 4 United States Department of the Interior National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form NPS Form 10-900 OMB No. 1024-0018 Yim Quon Building Honolulu, HI Name of Property County and State ______________________________________________________________________________ Narrative Description APPEARANCE DURING THE PERIOD OF SIGNIFICANCE Exterior SETTING The Yim Quon Building, addressed as 75 N. King Street, originally was designed and constructed as a two-part commercial building within the dense Chinatown commercial district of Honolulu. Chinatown is an urban enclave that is located on the northwest side of the Central Business District of Honolulu. The site on which the building was erected slopes in two directions, southeast-northwest or “Diamond Head to Ewa” along King Street, and northeast- southwest, “mauka-makai,” or “from the mountains to the sea,” between Maunakea and Smith Streets. (See Map 3). The building was financed by rice planter, commission agent, and merchant Yim Quon and built in 1886 by an unidentified contractor. At the time of its construction, the surrounding setting had been destroyed by the Chinatown Fire of the same year. One of the first buildings erected in the wake of the conflagration, the Yim Quon Building survived another fire in 1900 that destroyed much of Chinatown. After the 1900 fire, buildings in Chinatown were again reconstructed, following the district’s historic dense commercial pattern, but using primarily fireproof masonry construction materials. (Refer to historic Dakin fire insurance maps—Maps 2-3 in the Additional Documentation Continuation Sheets—which show an evolution from largely wood construction, shown in blue, in 1891, to more masonry construction, shown in pink, by 1906). The setting established after the fire of 1900 remains largely intact today, with incremental alterations to buildings within Chinatown and little new construction throughout the twentieth century. SHAPE AND MASSING As originally designed and constructed, the Yim Quon building rises two stories in height, and currently measures 28′-9 1/2″ in width, 60′-6 1/2″ in length, and has a footprint of 1,743 square feet. The building appears to have a rectangular massing when viewed