Adventure 003, Site 054-St Joseph's Church-Los Banos

Gary on the steps

Capture California, the Game-2013
Adventure: 003, Site 054-St Joseph's Church-Los Banos
National Registry ID: 04000330


Team: YOLT
Date: September 11, 2013
Location:
Coordinates: 37°3′34″N 120°51′0″W
Address: 1109 K St., Los Banos

Description:
Date Built: 1923
Architect: Charles Fantoni



Last year we tried to find this church. How hard can it be to find a Catholic church in Los Banos? Apparently hard enough. We had tried to locate the address on our GPS-nothing. Then walked around Los Banos-still nothing. Then drove around-still nothing. We gave up. This year, we did some searching around and found out that it is no longer St Joseph's church but the Los Banos Art Council. Also looking at Google maps, we found it right away—at the corner of 5^th and K St.

St Joseph's Church, Los Banos

The building has seen its better days. The front door seemed like it was once grand, but now looks a bit battered. But you can tell at one time this church was the pride of the area.



Wikipedia:
The Church of St. Joseph is a historic church building located at 1109 K Street in Los Banos, California. Built in 1923, the church was designed in the Romanesque Revival style, a common style for church buildings. Charles Fantoni, a San Francisco architect, designed the church; it is one of only two surviving Fantoni designs, the other being Saints Peter and Paul Church in San Francisco. The church's design features extensive use of rounded arches, arches and vaults in both the interior and exterior of the building, and a low pitched roof atop the apse. The church is the only Romanesque building in Los Banos and its surrounding communities. The building no longer functions as a church and is used by the Los Banos Arts Council.[2]
The Church of St. Joseph was added to the National Register on July 8, 2004.






References:

• Wikipedia
  
• NoeHill
  
• National Registry of Historic Places: Documentation and Pictures
  

Overall Landmark References:

• State of California Historical Resources (CHR)
  
• National Registry of Historical Places (NRHP)
  
• NoeHill (NOE)