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Modesto Architecture Database - A Modesto Art Museum Project

Part 1 - Buildings on Numbered Streets

 

1213 13th Street

517 7th Street

Thomas Church Landscape

1025 13th Street

 

Photo Street Number: Street Name: Original Use: Architectural Style: Brief description of the site or the structure and any major alternations from its original condition Construction Date Architect/Designer Historical and/or architectural importance Books, documents, survey, personal interviews and their dates.
Photo 621 2nd Street Water Pump Building   Square one story, flat-roofed masonry building. Parapet walls with recessed panels. Shelf with brackets near edge. Twin semi-circular door opening. Molded concave shell supported on piers with thrust. Door has been covered with sheet metal. Glass fan light of multiple panes. Side windows are flat with decorated lintel. Decorative masonry band beneath shelf on sides and rear.        
Photo 629 2nd Street Fire Station   Two story overlapped wood fire station. Design is similar to bungalow in neighborhood. Low pitched roof with composition shingles. Sideboards at building corners. Cornice fascia alone. Edge of roof projecting with boards attached at roof edge. Flat entry with plain molding over doors and windows. Brick porch supported by wooden pillars on masonry piers.  1924      
  517 5th Street Residential   Single story square stucco structure. Cross gable with bell cast gable facing forward. Wood shingled roof. Eaves project and rafters are exposed. Roof projects at gable end with boards attached at roof edge. Flat main door with plain molding, repeated around windows. Porch recessed into corner with semi-circular entrance/arch both at front and open side. Approximately 1200 square feet. A simple complimentary high pitched gable dwelling is at rear of lot and detached complementary garage.  c. 1938      
  529 5th Street Residential Bungalow Two single story  rectangular wood duplex structures separated by a detached two-story structure serving as a garage at  ground level and a swelling unit above; all of same construction. Low pitched gable with hip projecting over front porch (single story structures). Elaborate array of small to moderate dimension columns and beams define porch areas and support forward hip. Flat main door with lintel, same theme at windows. c. 1924     Modesto City Dir. 1914, 17, 19, 22, 26, 29, 31
  531 5th Street Residential Bungalow Two single story  rectangular wood duplex structures separated by a detached two-story structure serving as a garage at  ground level and a swelling unit above; all of same construction. Low pitched gable with hip projecting over front porch (single story structures). Elaborate array of small to moderate dimension columns and beams define porch areas and support forward hip. Flat main door with lintel, same theme at windows.  c. 1924     Modesto City Dir. 1914, 17, 19, 22, 26, 29, 31
  705 5th Street Residential Bungalow Rectangular wood clapboard one story structure. Low pitched cross gable with two parallel low gables facing forward, the predominant extending over porch. Projecting eaves and exposed rafters. 4 x 6 brackets support gable ends. Composition roof. Flat front door with plain lintel, repeated around windows. Open porch with tetrahedral wood supports on brick piers. c. 1924   W. S. Anderson, driver for PG&E 1914-1931 Modesto City Directories
  715 5th Street Residential   Single story rectangular wood (clapboard) structure. Gabled overhang dormers on front and sides. Projecting eaves with scalloped rafter tails. Bell cast hip roof with composition shingles. Flat door, plain lintel, Offset/closed veranda style porch with two front entries. Apparently a duplex. Various outbuildings in rear.  c. 1917     1914-1931 Modesto City Directories
Photo 811 5th Street Bank Googie   1957   Became Bank of California in 1958  
Photo 432 6th Street Hall            
  718 6th Street Residential Bungalow This is a story and a half square wood frame residence sheathed with narrow clapboard siding and capped by a shallow gabled roof of asbestos shingles. The eaves are projecting and have exposed rafters and decorative support brackets at each corner. A gabled single wood entrance door is protected by a slanted projection which is supported by decorative brackets. A small open stoop leads to the entrance. A pair of double hung sash windows flank the doorway.         
  808 6th Street Residential   This is a two story square plan wood frame dwelling sheathed with shiplap siding. The house is capped by a gabled roof of asbestos shingles and has enclosed rafters. A hipped projection extends across the entire first floor and forms the porch. The porch roof is supported by square posts resting on a low wall which encloses the porch. The main entrance is a single door with glass above paneled wood and is flanked by a double hung sash window on each side. There are two interior brick chimneys with gabled caps. An outside stairway on one side of the house leads to a second floor entrance.         
  810 6th Street Residential Bungalow This is a small one story rectangular plan dwelling sheathed with clapboard siding and capped by a wood shingle gable roof with exposed rafters. A projecting gable supported by square posts shelters the off center entrance which consists of a single glass above the wood door. There is one double hung sash window to the side of the entrance. A single interior brick chimney projects from the center of the roof.         
Photo 517 7th Street   Mission Revival A rectangular industrial building with a cement façade. There is an arched Mission Revival parapet at the front edge of the roof. The main entrance is a center pair of sliding doors flanked by large multipaned windows. Above the entry is a group of three louvered vents sets in an arched opening and to one side is a single paneled wood door. The low arched roof and the sides and rear of the building are covered with corrugated metal siding.         
Photo 701 7th Street Retail International Stype or Bauhaus A rare early International Style commercial building 1928 Russell Guerne De Lappe Mellis Brothers Grocery  
  710 7th Street Industrial Classical Revival Influence A one story rectangular cement block industrial building. A stuccoed parapet at the roof edge exhibits classical detailing. There is a single entrance on each side of a large multipaned window. There is a small window to the left of the left door and a large multipaned window to the right of the right door. A multisectioned transom extends across both doors and the windows.         
Photo   7th Street Bridge   Canticrete bridge with internal steel trusses 1916 John B. Leonard It was known as the Lion Bridge when it first opened.   
  801 8th Street Grocery Store Art Deco This is a large square plan commercial building with a curved front corner. The main entrance is at one side of the building and consists of double glass doors. Large plat glass display windows extend around both sides of the building facing the street. Beneath the display windows is a band of colored ceramic tile. A metal marquee extends around the street sides of the structure.  1938      
  719, 721 8th Street   Mission Revival This is a pair of nearly identical rectangular commercial /industrial building. Each has a stucco façade and a mission Revival parapet concealing a low pitched asbestos gabled roof. Both building are sheathed in corrugated metal siding on the side and rear portions. here is a group of three louvered vents set in arched openings above the center entrance to each building. 719 has a large double door entrance which is flanked by a pair of stationary windows with multipaned upper sections. 721 has a smaller double door entry.         
  1201 8th Street Commercial Victorian   1895   This building has housed the Modesto Steam Laundry since 1895.  
Photo   9 th Street Bridge   A modified haunch girder, 2000 foot long, four lane bridge with bike lane and pedestrial walkways spanning the Tuolumne River south of downtown Modesto. 2007 Donald McDonald    
Photo   9 th Street Arch   In 1912, the downtown Modesto Arch, located at 9th and I streets, was built for a cost of $1,200. The brick, concrete and steel illuminating arch holds 668 lights, stands 25 feet high at its center, and spans 75 feet across I Street. The arch carries the city slogan, Water, Wealth, Contentment, Health. 1912 Bernard Joseph One of the last remaining city arches from the Boosterism period of the 20th century.  
  301 9th Street Cannery Industrial This is a large one story rectangular industrial building sheathed with corrugated metal siding. Near the center of one side of the building there is a cylindrical tank with a peaked roof and a rounded bottom which projects from the roof. The tank is supported by four steel girders. The roof over the main part of the building is in four low arched sections. There are sliding metal doors at the sides of the building and small shed roof extension on one side.      Tille Lewis Cannery  
Photo 504 9th Street Offices            
  621 9th Street lumber company sales office   This is a one story square wood frame commercial building. The exterior is sheathed with shiplap siding. A hipped roof of painted wood shingles caps the structure. The rafters are enclosed in a boxed cornice. The main entrance is an off-center single glass door. There are also two side entrances consisting of a single and a double door as well as a single center entry at the rear of the building. There are no windows on the front or rear of the building but the side with the two entrances has center double hung sash windows and the side facing 9th Street has a row of five double hung sash windows toward the rear of the building.      Modesto Lumber Company  
Photo 1001 9th Street railway depot Mission The Southern Pacific Station displays the simplicity of form characteristic of a 1915 Mission Style railroad depot. The rectangular one-story stucco building has a low tile hip roof with boxed cornices and heavy paired support brackets. At each side of the main portion of the building is a flat roofed extension with projecting roof beams (vigas) and windows set in arched openings. These extensions wrap around the building and meet on the railroad tracks side of the dept where the walls continue upward forming a parapet above an arcade. A pair of small bell towers flanks the parapet. A projecting arcade with a modified espadana parapet leads to an entrance on the street side of the building. Paired double hung sash window interrupt the plain wall surfaces surrounding the building.  1915   Original Southern Pacific Depot  
Photo 1425 9th Street   Industrial          
  321 10th Street Warehouse   One story rectangular warehouse with a cement façade. Facing the street is a center projecting parapet framed by a shorter pillar-like projection at each end. The main part of the building has a hipped roof. The main entrance is a large center double wood door. There is a multipane widow to each side of the doorway. Corrugated metal siding sheathes the sides and rear of the building.         
  431 10th Street     This is a one story L shaped, light green stucco with brick trim building. It has a false front and a flat roof.      Noteworthy neon sign  
Photo 600 10th Street Police Station Neo Arts and Crafts          
  701 10th Street   Art Deco   1941   For years this was the Greyhound Bus terminal for Modesto.  
Photo 710 10th Street Auto Dealership   Two story building designed as a car dealership in 1919. Large windows for natural light on the G Street side of the building were stuccoed over long ago, probably in the 1930s. There is some geometric title decoration near the top, othersie almost no decoration. 1919   Built as an Oldsmobile dealership by Fisk and Davis; subsequently known as the Fireproof Garage Building. The Diabled Veterans began holding wrestling and boxing matches here in 1940, and fights continued until at least the 1980s. It was known as the Uptown Arena. On other nights of the week, there were concerts and dances, also until at least the 1980s.  The Modesto Evening News, Modesto Bee
  713 10th Street Commercial   Rectangular single story stucco building with false front. Plain flat door molding. Doors are located at center of building. Black stone veneer runs to top of full length transom. Double display windows in business on east end of building single display windows on west end of building. Three bands below parapet serve as trim. Black veneer below window with ¼ round molding at intersection with window.         
  726 10th Street     Two story rectangular cut stone building. False front, decorated parapet. Glat main door is located off center. Molded trim with glass panels and divided glass transom. Ornamented shelf separates pairs of leaded rectangular windows/transom. Top openings filled in, smaller than bottom pair. Curved marble platform steps lead to marble and mosaic tile landing. Two ornamented lights on each side of entry.  18” diameter seal with large “B” and “Erected 1894” centered below parapet. Cloth awning and a wood and wrought iron sign have been added and compliment existing structure.  1894   Built by J. D. Spencer, Editor of the Daily Evening News. In 1890 Mr. Spencer is quoted as proposing a “new building, hard finished throughout, 25 x 75 will be erected”. In 1920, the building became the office for the Del Este Water Company. In 1967, it became the law office for Robert Bienvenu.  
  819 10th Street Office Building     1949      
Photo 833 10th Street Bank Modernist Classical Soaring arches, sculptured ceramic tile, and a characteristic interior make this a remarkably intact example of modernist classic architecture. Notice the distinctive interior light fixture, bubble ceailing lights, the curving stairway, and the sweeping mezzanine level. the sunburst wall clock is typical of the period, as is the large fluted concrete planter that passes through the glass wall.  1965 Mortensen and Hollstien A remarkable example of mid 20th century modern classical architecture. Originally built as World's Savings. Modernism In Modersto 1937 to 1972, by the Modesto Art Museum
  922-924 10th Street Retail Art Deco A three story rectangular brick commercial building. The street level façade has been remodeled with large plate glass display windows and two recessed entrances with double glass doors. The upper levels of the building reveal its original Art Deco styling. Both the second and third stories contain three pairs of set back strip windows which add to the geometric feeling of the design. The windows are multipane metal sash type with plain spandrels. Low geometric relief decorate the third story window heads. Above the third story windows is a series of three horizontal panels; the center panel contains the name Kress and the two flanking panels have stylized floriated patterns in low relief. The façade is capped by a stepped parapet with a zig-zag decorative band at the top. The vertical character of the composition is emphasized by tall pilaster-like panels scored with linear detailing at the outer sides of the façade.  c. 1930   Original Kress Chain Store, built circa 1930. Largest and oldest retail Art Deco façade in downtown area and one of kind in Modesto.   
  1001 10th Street Retail/Rooms   A 1940s to ‘50s modernization covers the street level facades. An original recessed entrance remains near the rear of the J Street side of the building. The second story retains its original white glazed brick veneer although the windows have been replaced. There is an intricate ornamental masonry band at the base of the low roof parapet. A slanted bay projects at the front corner of the second story. Photos show this corner bay to originally have had a dome cupola cap. 1912   Only bay corner projecting left in Modesto part of oldest continuous 10th Street business frontage remaining.   
Photo 1010 10th Street Government            
1021 10th Street Theatre         Brendan Theatre  
Photo 1217 10th Street Grocery Store Googie   1948   Originally built as a Lucky Supermarket  
  111 11th Street Cannery Industrial This is a large rectangular stuccoed cannery. A plain parapet surrounds the roof. A three story section projects at the center side. Large sliding metal doors surround the building. A straight stairway with a side approach leads to two single entrance doors. On eight side of the doors is a group of double hung sash windows (three on one side and two on the other.)     S & W Foods  
  401 11th Street       1928   Building in which the Gallo brothers founded their famous winery.  
  530 11th Street Commercial Mediterranean A square building with yellowish/tan stucco has a red tile, low hip roof. There is a shingle gable off center in the back. There is a new addition attached to the side which obscures much of the original. Front of the building has been modernized. The remaining side windows are sash with half round tops.  1928   Modesto & Empire Traction Co.   
  600 11th Street Fire Station Art Deco   1939      
  610 11th Street Firehouse Art Deco A two story rectangular reinforced concrete Art Moderne structure. A five story tower projects at each of the rear corners of the building. Simple vertical pilaster-like panels divide the façade into four bays. At the street level each of the outer panels contains a glass door and transom. The center panels have metal frame casement windows. All four panels have second story casement window. These windows and doors are all slightly recessed and the structural openings have rounded edges and are trimmed with an upswept detail at the center of the lintel. The only other surface ornamentation consists of three graduated projecting horizontal bars at the top outer corner of the each tower. The flat roof is concealed by a plain parapet in which the name and date of the building have been incised. Metal roll-up doors have replaced the original folding doors at the four fire truck entrances. Additional alterations include aluminum awnings over the south side windows and one and half story service extension on the north side of the building.  1939 Frank J. Rossi Frank Rossi was the city engineer for many years. Mod Bee Feb 28, 1939: Zonligt
  630 11th Street Retail   A one-story stuccoed brick commercial building and an adjacent garage. The nearly square auto parts store has a corner location with tripart metal frame display windows along the street frontages. There is a recessed entrance at the front corner of the building facing G Street. Two continuous string courses separate the tops of the windows from the low single step parapet which surrounds the roof. The adjoining garage has a high false front parapet concealing a metal gable roof. The façade contains a single leaf entrance, a large wooden plane sliding door with a multipane window in the center, and a large tripart metal frame multipane window.  1920s      
  632 11th Street Retail/Service   A one-story stuccoed brick commercial building and an adjacent garage. The nearly square auto parts store has a corner location with tripart metal frame display windows along the street frontages. There is a recessed entrance at the front corner of the building facing G Street. Two continuous string courses separate the tops of the windows from the low single step parapet which surrounds the roof. The adjoining garage has a high false front parapet concealing a metal gable roof. The façade contains a single leaf entrance, a large wooden plane sliding door with a multipane window in the center, and a large tripart metal frame multipane window.  1920s      
Photo 800 11th Street Courthouse Mid 20th Century Modern   1960 Mitchell Van Bourg Mitchell Van Bourg was a student of Walter Gropius at Harvard.  
Photo 801 11th Street Government Mid 20th Century Modern Originally a four story building, the top floor was added in 1978. A terra cotta sun screen shades the 2nd through 4th floors.  1960 Milton T. Pflueger In May 1961, Modesto's new city government building made the cover of The American City magazine, and was held up as an example of progressive urban design. The American City, May 1961; Modernism in Modesto 1937 to 1972 by Modesto Art Museum
  1012 11th Street telephone compnay and offices Renaissance Revival A three-story, Renaissance style building with flat roof and red brick on the front a short way on the sides. A classical cornice below the parapet, with flat modillion, bed molding, dentils and the effect of a frieze by using a string course. The windows have a white flat arch with keystone. An entrance vestibule on the right corner of the front with a floor of small, white, hexagonal tiles and fretted black border. A classical entrance with white molded trim, and consoles supporting a cornice with flat modillions. A string course between the first and second stories projects one foot and has a vertical face with Greek frets. A white, plaster water table is made to look like ashlar masonry. To the rear of the 1922 building is a 1950s addition. The building was purchased in 1987 and underwent extensive interior remodeling in 1988. The remodeling involved glass black floor to ceiling panels on the north wall of the newer rear portion and an atrium and arch addition to top floor of the newer rear portion. The 1922 building exterior was left intact.  1922   Pacific Telephone Building: The telephone came to Modesto in 1887. In 1894 Modesto got a new larger switchboard and its first public telephone. The first buildings were at 1018 and 1016 I Street in Modesto. By 1922 they had outgrown these facilities and moved to the 11th Street location. 100 Years by Maino; personal interview with historian Jack Brotherton 5/5/84
  1125 11th Street Commercial   This is a narrow rectangular single story brick commercial building. It has simple, decorative brick relief on the facade parapet. The original entrance has been replaced with a door and flanking display windows composed of narrow vertical glass panels.  c. 1915   This small retail building was originally a tailor’s shop. The entry threshold still has the original owners name set in tile.   
Photo 1230 11 th Street Gas Station Sign On the corner near this altered building is a surviving Texaco sign. It is illuminated by two spot lights. 1935   One of the few remaining signs from the 1930s.  
  1306 11th Street Residential Craftsman Bungalow with a Swiss motif This is a medium sized structure with a second overhanging gable over the front porch. There is a small dormer window which is double paned. The entire house is covered with horizontal overlapping wooden siding to the roof. There is a sash window with two glass side panels on one side of entry door and a smaller single window on the other side. The door is in the middle of the front of the house with glass panes at its top. The front door, front and side windows, roof fascia, dormer windows and porch pillars all have a Swiss Chalet type decorative trim. The house is well maintained . The Swiss decorative trim could be either exceptionally well kept or a later addition.  c. 1925      
  1310 11th Street Residential Craftsman Bungalow A large one-story structure with the typical second gable overhanging the porch, but the porch itself has been extended to the full front of the house. The porch is stucco with stucco pillars while the house is of overlapping horizontal wood siding. The front gables are part shingle and part horizontal wood siding. There are two large sash windows on either side of a glass paned door. The foundation and the steps are cement. c. 1914      
  1405 11th Street Residential Craftsman Bungalow This is a rectangular house. It has a shingled roof with gabled dormer and a gabled overhang over the recessed porch with concrete pillars. The gable ends of the roof are at the sides rather than front and back. The south side of the house has a horizontal overhand over a projecting set of windows. The walls are of wood siding with shingles from eaves to roof line. The front door is angled and there are two large windows with large sash and small paned at the top and at the front do the house. There is a ground to above the roof exterior chimney. c. 1914      
  1431 11th Street Apartment House   This is a rectangular one story building housing two apartments or flats. It is of white stucco, boxy with a flat roof with a crenellated parapet projecting above the flat roof. There is a projecting flat roof porch over each of the two entrances. The porch roof is about three feet lower than the building roof. There are open cement porches at each side of the building front and between them is a narrow slanted tiled roof section. The open porches are supported by four plain pillars.  c. 1924      
  506 12th Street   California Bungalow The house is one story California Bungalow type. It is rectangular in plan and made of wood or stucco.         
  510 12th Street   California Bungalow The houses is a one story California Bungalow type. It is rectangular in plan and made of wood or stucco.         
Photo 519 12th Street Sign            
  704 12th Street Residential     1887   One of few remaining 12th Street large homes from the 1880s, and one of few remaining period furnishing filled structures of this era. George Perley build home for himself in 1887. It was a private home until 1921 when George Sovern operated the building as one of the town’s first mortuaries. Sovern died in 1938 and his wife and daughter kept operating the firm until they sold to Lewis Franklin and Saxon Downs in 1946. They developed the service into the most selected mortuary by local families. The ownership is still held by Franklin & Downs. Personal interviews: May 29, 1984
  421 13th Street     One story California Bungalow        
  425 13th Street     One story California Bungalow        
  426 13th Street     One story California Bungalow        
  428 13th Street     One story California Bungalow        
  502 13th Street     One story California Bungalow        
  520 13th Street     One story California Bungalow        
  525 13th Street     One story California Bungalow        
  526 13th Street     One story California Bungalow        
  531 13th Street Residential   This structure is a large rectangular 2 story building, rather overgrown with foliage. The design has been influenced by the Queen Anne gabled architectural style but is a simpler form of this style. It features several gables, siding of overlapping wood board, bay windows on one side and a side and a side porch. There is also a street level basement. The windows are double sashed.  c. 1915      
Photo 1025 13th Street Telephone Company   The building is massive but elegant. The façade is clad in huge grey ceramic tiles affixed to the building with silver rivets that create a large geometric pattern. The windows are separated by shallow rectangular attached columns, reminiscent of radiator fins that give the building a soaring effect making it look much taller than it four floors. 1949 Clarence Peterson and Wendell Spackman   Modernism in Modesto 1937 to 1972 by Modesto Art Museum
  1115 13th Street Offices International Style or Bauhaus Originally an apartment building 1938      
Photo 1210 13th Street Residential Dutch Colonial Revival Bungalow Two story, gamble roofed bungalow. The house has a front facing gable to fit on a narrow lot. 1910   Plans for this type of house were often ordered from a catalogue.   
Photo 1213 13th Street Offices   The present building is a remake of a 1973 building. The previous building was almost entirely torn down. An interior stairway was added, as well as many square feet of space. 2009 Joseph Smith of Architecture Plus Inc. Woodland Construction was the general contractor. The building is the new home of Yosemite Farm Credit. Modesto Bee, June 26, 2009
  909 14th Street Residential Victorian   1882   Originally the home of W.H. Hatton.  
  1207 14th Street Offices Mid 20th Century Modern          
  919 15th Street Residential   This house, behind #921 and facing the street, is irregularly shaped, with plaster walls, a shingle roof with gable ends on the right and left sides of the house, exposed rafters, and rake boards. The solid wood front door, on the left of the front, has a cement stoop with 3 steps, and an extension of the house roof over it supported by brackets. On the right of the door is a large, wide window with a center pane and a narrow casement on each side. Extending forward from the right of the house front is a long gable not as high as the house, with double-hung, 4 over 4 windows, and a plastered chimney on the gable end. The back of the house has a gable which extends about 2 yards and is half as high as the house.  c. 1931     City Directories 1911-1942 / County Tax Assessors Rolls
  921 15th Street Residential Tudor This irregularly shaped, 1 story house with a shingled gable roof and plaster walls, faces left and presents its side to the street. The eaves have exposed rafters and rake boards, and the gable end, which faces the street, is the only side which has imitation half timbering, but the boards are painted the same color as the plaster. On the left of this side is a large segmental window with 36 panes, which are curved at the top to fit the arch. On the right there is a gable half the height of the house, projecting about s ½ feet. In it is a double-hung, 6 over 6 window. The front door is around the left corner, with an extension of the house roof over it, supported by brackets, and has a stoop with 3 steps, and a brick planter on each side. On the left of the door is a pair of double-hung, 4 over 4 windows, and beyond them a  gable half of the height of the house, extending about 7 feet, also with 4 over 4 windows. The side of the house farthest from the street has another gable half as high as the house, extending about 9 feet, and in the corner formed by the house and gable there is a door with a roof and stoop similar to those of the front door.  c. 1936   The original owners of this home were Mr. and Mrs. John Moore. The Moores also owned the Moore Equipment Company of Modesto. This firm specialized in the manufacture and sales of agricultural equipment. Modesto City Directories 1911-41 / Personal interview
Photo 924 15th Street              
  850 16th Street Church Mediterranean This elongate, irregular shaped complex has concrete walls, and a multi-gabled, tiles roof with no eaves. There is a rain gutter that looks like a cornice, a frieze, and a rake board on the gables. The church proper projects at one ends, with the entrance to the nave inside the building , and a long corridor on 2 stories, with rooms opening on it, runs along the axis of the building from near one corner of the nave to the end of the city block, where it is terminated by a large gymnasium at right angles to it. The main entrance is in a wall set diagonally across the recessed corner between the nave and a gable chapel opening off the long corridor. There are 3 round arches side by side, with a rectangular door in each at the back of a 1 ½ foot deep, slightly splayed barrel vault. A round-headed, leaded window with a geometric design is in each door. The center door is double, and there is a fanlight with leaded glass in a radiating design over all the doors. An outwardly curving, cement porch fills the whole corner, with 6 steps following the curve of the whole front of the porch. Rising over the entrance is a splendid, rectangular tower with a belfry, which has 3 round arches on every side, supported by twisted glazed columns of terra cotta, with Corinthian type capitals. A shallow balcony with corbels is under the arches on every side, and the wall immediately beneath it slopes inward but remains vertical on the corners of the tower, flush with the ends of the baloneys. The belfry is covered by a low, pyramidal, tile roof with frieze. Rising 15 or 20 feet from one corner of the tower, is a rectangular turret as ornate as the tower, with one arch on each side.  The chapel on the right side of the entrance has a fine, stained glass window in the gable. Its shape is that of a circle with a superimposed square. There is an exterior side entrance with a double door, which has leaded stained glass windows and leaded fanlight, with a trim consisting of a twisted halfround of glazed terra cotta on the sides, passing unbroken over the round top. The church nave has 3 bays with a strip buttress between each one, and a pair of long, round-headed windows in each bay. Between the light of each pair is a twisted, engaged column of glazed terra cotta, with a Corinthian type capital. A flat arch trim goes around the windows and rests on the columns. The leaded lights have an all–over geometric design, and there are corbels under the continuous sill of each pair. The double-pitched roof ends in a clipped gable over the narthex, and at the other end it does not stop at the transept, but continues to the chancel, where the end of the roof is hipped. The transept projects 3 feet from the nave wall and has a gable roof with a ridge which meets the nave roof hip much lower than the nave ridge. At the end of the transept arms is a round-headed, leaded window larger than those in the nave, flanked by 2 smaller ones. The same kind of twisted columns separate the 3 windows, and they are joined at the bottom by one sill with 4 corbels. The chancel has a double-pitched roof abutting on the end of the sloping nave roof, and is higher than the transept roof. The chancel is narrower than the nave, and a small 1 story room juts out on each side of it in the corners next to the transept, with a door and 6 straight platform steps. The casement windows in these 2 rooms and the chancel wall have clear glass with lead cames in a trilobite shape. The chancel l ends in a 3 sided apse, with a 3 sided bay roof rising to the chance roof ride. The center wall of the apse has a very large, round-headed stained glass window, with a big circle filling the top. The circle contains a geometric design with a figure in the center, and the rest of the window has small leaded rectangles, 14 across and 8 down. 1931   The First United Methodist Church was established in Modesto in 1871. The congregation met in members’ homes until 1873 when property at 13th and H Streets was purchased and a church was constructed. In 1876 it was incorporated as the Methodist Episcopal Church of Modesto. By 1889 the congregation had outgrown this building and a new church was constructed. By the early 1920s new facilities were again needed. Property at the present site was purchased and a new church was completed in 1931.  A member of this church during the 1930s, Gerald Kennedy, later became president of the Methodist Church Organization of Bishops, the youngest person ever elected to this position. Modesto City Directories / 100 Years Maino
  1015 16th Street Residential Queen Anne This nearly rectangular house with a hip roof, exposed rafters, and a shed dormer on the right side, has fish scale above a stringcourse forming the top of the widow frames. Below this are clapboards ending at another stringcourse passing across the bottom of the windows, and from there to the foundation there are uneven shingles. On the left of the house front is a gable flush with the wall, with a rake board, and an exposed beam with bracket at its apex and each end. A recessed, concrete porch under the gable continues about 8 feet past the left end of the gable, without a roof. A large projecting gable as high as the house serves as the back wall of this open end of the porch. The left corner of the porch gable is supported by a tapering, rectangular pillar resting on the center one of 3 rectangular, stucco pedestals connected by a latticework railing. The stairs, with 5 steps, are on the extreme right of the porch, opposite the front door. The walls under the porch and on the sides of the stairs are stucco. The right side of the house has a roof entrance to a full basement, and a slanted bay from the eaves to 2 ½  feet above ground. One of the 2 building behind the house has fishscale and clapboard siding, with a slanting porch roof below the eaves on 5 posts across the side facing the house.  c. 1914   The first owner of this house, Irwin R. Broughton, was the son of a prominent early Modesto family. His great grandfather, Major William Broughton, served in the Revolutionary Way under George Washington. His grandparents, Job and Celia Broughton, came to California in 1850 and his father, James R. Broughton, was born in San Jose in 1854. When James Broughton moved to Modesto in 1878 he was employed by the Modesto Bank and became its president in 1905. . Irwin was one of James Broughton’s two children. His sister, Esto Broughton, became the first woman attorney in Stanislaus County and the first woman elected to the California legislature. Irwin's son, James (1913 - 1999) became a noted poet, playwrite, and award-winning film maker. Tinkham's History / Modesto City Directoreis 1911-41
  1025 16th Street Residential Mediterranean This 2 story, irregularly shaped house with white plaster walls has an unorthodox tile roof, which seems to be a low pyramid that is overlapped at the right rear corner by another small, low pyramidal roof of a 2 story projection. In the L formed by these two elements is a 1 story gable which extends out past the front of the house on the right side. There is a boxed cornice, and small modillions placed at the corners. The top story of the front extends 1 ½ feet beyond the first story, with close-placed beams under the over-hang like a medieval house, and in its center there is a double French door with an iron balcony. The front porch, on the first floor in the angle between the front and the projecting 1 story gable, has a slanting tile roof, and its entrance and 2 arches are now glassed in. The 1 story gable has an exposed beam at its peak and each corner; and there is a large segmental window of 1 pane curved to fit the arch, the lowest part of which is protected by an iron grill on brackets. On the left property line, against a high block wall, is a handsome wrought iron grill 10 feet high, extending from the sidewalk to the corner of the house. It has 4 panels, 4 feet wide, with a beautiful, close, Renaissance design, alternating with 4 panels of equal size, consisting of a grid.  c. 1934   This fine example of Mediterranean style architecture was built by Mr. and Mrs. William D. Thomas in 1934 when the style was at the height of its popularity. In the early 1970s it was converted to law offices. With its exterior architectural integrity very much intact, this building provides an exemplary instance of adaptive re-use. Modesto City Directories 1911-41 / Personal interview
  821 17th Street Residential Neoclassical The main part of the house is 2 stories high with clapboard siding, a shingle roof, and a gable on the left and right sides. In front of it, at right angles, is a 1 story gable, extending right and left as far as the 2 story part, so that the whole building is rectangular. In the rear there is a 1 story addition with a 2nd story room, and 2 roofs slanting in different directions. All the roofs have exposed rafters, rake boards, but no fascias. A large cement porch goes across the whole front, and on it in the center third, is a gable roof. The front of the porch gable has clapboards, and below them an architrave with a straight upper edge and an arched soffit, supported by two Tuscan columns. There are 3 porch steps, and the front door has a large glass pane with a sill and dentils. The 1st story windows in front are double-hung, with flat frames and cornices. On the left and right sides of the house there are stairs going up to a 2nd floor door with a gabled hood on brackets. A rectangular bay, which does not go down to the ground, is on the left side on the 1st floor. At the ground floor level there is a stringcourse, below which there are wide horizontal boards.  1914   The builder and original owner of this house, Louis Stevens, was a third generation builder and contractor. His father, Walter A. Stevens, came to Modesto in 1905 and combined careers in farming and construction. Walter Stevens was the building contractor for a number of the most important buildings constructed in Modesto during the first two decades of the twentieth century. These buildings include the City Hall, the Presbyterian Church, the old Masonic Hall, several commercial buildings, and residences, and a grammar school. In 1917 Louis Stevens formed a partnership with his father and they continued business as one of the city’s leading construction firms.  Modesto City Directories 1911-1972
  823 17th Street Residential Mediterranean The 2 story office building, formerly apartments, has white stucco walls, and a flat roof with a decorative slanting edge of 3 courses of tiles on the front, left side, and rear, but not on the right, where there is no roof parapet instead. There is a boxed cornice and small frieze under the tiles eaves, and a flat stringcourse about 6 inches below the frieze. A large wide stucco porch with a tiled gable roof is in the center of the front. It has 3 walls, but a very wide, slightly arched opening on the front, and an arch on each side wall give the corners the appearance of pillars. There are 2 straight platform steps in front of the porch, and on the back wall, 3 modern, paneled doors with a fanlight over each, with radiating bars. A pair of double-hung windows besides the porch on each side have segmental arches, and 9 panes in the upper sash. Two pairs on the second floor have 6 panes in the upper sash. A door and all the windows on the right side of the building have been plastered over. The windows at the rear and on the left side near the back seem to be Pullman windows, since they are short and on a slant in their frames. c. 1917   This building is another example of adaptive re-use. Originally an apartment building when constructed in 1917 by C. W. Stevens, it now houses an office complex. Modesto City Directory 1917-83
  900 17th Street Residential   11 story apartment building 1971   Called the Ralston Tower  
  915 17th Street Residential   The rectangular, 2 story house has stucco walls, a tiled hip roof with molded boxed cornice, sloping soffit, flat modillions, bed molding, and frieze. The front of the house has a magnificent portico in the center, ¾ the height of the wall. Three enormous Tuscan columns with abaci and plinths stand in a triangular arrangement at each corner and support a molded architrave and cornice. Six horizontal beams with shaped ends protrude from the flat roof, above the architrave, but through the cornice and others extend out over the sides. On the front wall of the house, on each side of the portico, there is a double French door (concealed behind shrubbery) with fanlight, glass side panels, a blind arch over all, and an iron balcony on brackets. A conservatory on each side continues the front line of the house and extends along the side halfway back to the rear.   1917   George A. Cressey, the original owner of this house, was a member of one of Modesto’s most prominent families. His father, Albert L. Cressey, was an early central California pioneer and a strong advocate of irrigation in the San Joaquin Valley. Albert Cressey and his brother organized and opened the Modesto Bank, the first bank in Stanislaus County. Mr. Cressey was also instrumental in securing the right of way for the Southern Pacific Railroad which ran its first train to Modesto in the fall of 1870. In addition, Mr. Cressey built the first grain warehouses in Modesto and Merced. For many years he was president of the Stanislaus County Agricultural Association. George Cressey continued his family’s affiliation with the Modesto Bank as well as the tradition of civic involvement.  Tinkham's History / Modesto City Directories 1911-41