Architecture Planning Conservation Trag’s Market Historic Resource Evaluation Prepared for City of San Mateo Planning Division Prepared by Architectural Resources Group, Inc. San Francisco, California FINAL April 2017 SAN FRANCISCO PASADENA PORTLAND Pier 9, The Embarcadero, Suite 107 8 Mills Place, 3rd Floor, Suite 300 111 SW Fifth Avenue, 24th Floor San Francisco, California 94111 Pasadena, CA 91105 Portland, OR 97204 T: 415.421.1680 T: 626.583.1401 T: 971.256.5324 F: 415.421.0127 F: 626.583.1414 argsf.com arg-la.com arg-pnw.com Trag’s Market Historic Resource Evaluation 303 Baldwin Avenue San Mateo, California Final – April 2017 TABLE OF CONTENTS 1. Introduction .................................................................................................................................................. 1 1.1 Project Background ................................................................................................................................................. 1 1.2 Methodology ........................................................................................................................................................... 2 2. Property Description and History ................................................................................................................. 2 2.1 Property Description ................................................................................................................................................ 2 2.2 Construction Chronology ......................................................................................................................................... 5 3. Historic Context ............................................................................................................................................ 9 3.1 Settlement of San Mateo ........................................................................................................................................ 9 3.2 Wisnom Company ................................................................................................................................................. 12 3.3 Sharps and Brown, Architects ............................................................................................................................... 13 3.4 Rakestraw’s Market .............................................................................................................................................. 16 3.5 Trag’s Market ........................................................................................................................................................ 18 4. Evaluative Framework ................................................................................................................................ 19 4.1 California Register of Historical Resources ........................................................................................................... 19 5. Evaluation ................................................................................................................................................... 21 5.1 California Register of Historical Resources ........................................................................................................... 21 5.2 Integrity Analysis ................................................................................................................................................... 22 6. Conclusion .................................................................................................................................................. 22 7. Bibliography ................................................................................................................................................ 23 Appendix Appendix A: Existing Conditions Photographs Historic Resource Evaluation Architectural Resources Group Trag’s Market, 303 Baldwin Avenue, San Mateo, California Final – April 2017 1. INTRODUCTION 1.1 Project Background At the request of the City of San Mateo Planning Division, Architectural Resources Group (ARG) completed this Historic Resource Evaluation (HRE) for Trag’s Market at 303 Baldwin Avenue (APN 032‐ 322‐130) in San Mateo, California (Figure 1). The purpose of this evaluation is to determine if the subject property meets the criteria for listing in the California Register of Historical Resources (California Register) and therefore, is a historical resource under the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA). In 1956, the local architecture firm Sharps and Brown designed the commercial building at the request of the Wisnom Company. The building housed Rakestraw’s Market from 1956 to 1972 and has housed Trag’s Market from 1972 to the present. To date, the property has not been previously surveyed or evaluated for listing in the National Register of Historic Places (National Register) and California Register nor was it included in the City of San Mateo’s historic resources survey completed in 1989.1 Figure 1. Aerial photograph of the subject property and immediate vicinity (Google Earth, amended by author) 1 San Mateo County Historical Association, City of San Mateo Historic Building Survey Final Report, September 1989, accessed March 15, 2017, http://www.cityofsanmateo.org/DocumentCenter/View/47850. 1 Historic Resource Evaluation Architectural Resources Group Trag’s Market, 303 Baldwin Avenue, San Mateo, California Final – April 2017 1.2 Methodology To assess historical significance, consideration is given to several factors, including the property’s history (both construction and use), the history of the surrounding community, the property’s association with important persons or events, the potential for the resource to be the work of a master architect or builder, and the alterations that have taken place over time. These questions must be answered before a final determination of significance under the California Register criteria can be made. Physical assessment and archival research serve to inform an evaluation of significance; both have been completed for this project. On March 17, 2017, ARG visited the subject property in order to photograph the building and the surrounding setting and to document the architectural style, features, and condition of the grocery store. ARG also reviewed the building permit history provided by San Mateo Planning Division staff and conducted archival research at the following repositories: San Mateo Public Library San Mateo County Historical Association Archives San Mateo County Recorder’s Office digital repositories, including the Sanborn Fire Insurance Company map collection, David Rumsey Historical Map Collection, United States Geological Survey (USGS) EarthExplorer, Ancestry.com, Newspapers.com, San Francisco Chronicle database, Online Archive of California, Internet Archive, Avery Index to Architectural Periodicals, and Pacific Coast Architecture Database The background research included a review of historic photographs, maps, newspaper clippings, and primary and secondary documents regarding the development of the subject property and the surrounding downtown commercial district and the Wisnom, Rakestraw, and Tragoutsis families. 2. PROPERTY DESCRIPTION AND HISTORY A physical description and construction history of the subject property are presented below; additional photographs are provided in Appendix A. 2.1 Property Description Trag’s Market at 303 Baldwin Avenue is located on an irregularly shaped parcel (APN 032‐322‐120) at the southern end of the block bounded by Baldwin Avenue, N. B Street, Tilton Avenue, and N. Ellsworth Avenue, in turn located at the north end of San Mateo’s commercial corridor centered on B Street.2 Other businesses, such as restaurants, thrift stores, laundry mats, and retail stores, line the commercial corridor to the north and south along N. B Street, while small apartment buildings and single‐family residences are located to the west and north along N. Ellsworth Avenue. 2 A small commercial building (25‐31 N. B Street) is located at the northeast corner of the same parcel but is not included in this HRE. 2 Historic Resource Evaluation Architectural Resources Group Trag’s Market, 303 Baldwin Avenue, San Mateo, California Final – April 2017 The subject property contains a large, detached grocery store situated at the eastern property line and small paved parking lots to the north, west, and south. The one‐story, concrete building has an irregular plan, concrete foundation, and a flat roof with a parapet. The parapet forms a large triangular pediment with a circular cutout centered above the main entrance on the south façade (Figure 2). The building has an L‐shaped projection on the east and north façades that is slightly lower in height. The concrete is scored with vertical columns that divide the façades into bays. The main entrance to the grocery store is located on the south façade and consists of aluminum sliding glass doors surmounted by two aluminum‐sash transom windows. Two large aluminum‐sash plate glass windows are located to the west, and three aluminum‐sash clerestory windows are located to the east of the entrance. A large curved canvas awning is located above the storefront entrance, and a projecting concrete awning covered by canvas panels extends across the south façade and wraps around the southwest corner, terminating on the west façade. The building is clad in small pink square tiles below the flat awning. The concrete is scored in a basket weave pattern in the eastern bay between