Union Building
Union BuildingDestination 1 - 808 G StreetBuilt: 1889Period: Victorian Architecture c. 1885-1900Description: For seventy five years, this little false front building was the home of the Arcata Union newspaper, established in 1886 and moved to this location in 1901. A small office on the south front provided space for a variety of uses including real estate and insurance businesses, a: millinery shop and, from 1901 until 1907, the Arcata Post Office. A false front addition at the rear housed the "neat and well appointed" undertaking parlors of J. G. Dolson from 1904 until 1912.The building was constructed for John C. Bull, Jr. in 1890 to replace one destroyed in the 1889 fire which swept the east side of the Plaza on November 19th. First occupied by the O.K. Saloon, run by H. McCormack, the building later became the tailor shop of A. Basch before the Wiley family remodeled it in 1901 for the newspaper office.Painted white with dark "Arcata Union" wording across the front, the Union Building was a handsome example of simple storefront architecture. Brackets lined the projecting cornice at the top of the false front, larger fan brackets marked the comers, and above the transom and large, four pane windows, a row of dentils decorated the overhang.As the long time home of the community's only newspaper, which has been the chronicler of Arcata's history for the past century, the Union Building deserves historic recognition through restoration of its tum of the century architecture.
Bull Building
Bull BuildingDestination 2 - 876 G St.Built: 1890Period: Victorian Architecture c. 1885-1900Description:Prominent Arcata resident John C. Bull, Jr. had this two¬story, false front building constructed in 1890. To insure that the new building would "never take fire from the roof' as its predecessor had on the night of November 19, 1889, "ten tons of corrugated galvanized iron" came from San Francisco on the "North Fork" to cover the roofs of this building and the one on the comer.First occupied by Lafayette Ayers' branch livery stable, the Bull Building was remodeled in 1901 for Levi T. Darden's furniture business, known as the "Big Store." Todd and Dolson opened their furniture business here in 1904, followed by Robert McDowell's Old Reliable Furniture Co. in 1912. Sharing the space with McDowell were the J.G. Dolson undertaking parlors, located in the north side of the building from 1912 until 1923. Later occupants included Pete Canclini's shoe shop, the White City Meat Market and James Murray's Buick agency, identified by the electrically lit and glass topped gas pump out front on the sidewalk.Jack Taylor's College Transfer and News Stand and a variety store, first known as Tatman's and later as Bert Hill's Variety Store, occupied the building from the late 1920's into the 1940's. Sequoia Grocery Company opened a new store here in 1943, utilizing the entire lower floor until 1955.The building retains its tum of the century, false front architecture, highlighted by a bracket lined projecting cornice and topped by a decorated pediment. Recently painted, the Bull Building is a credit to its heritage and a noteworthy contributor to the Plaza.
Park House Building
Park House BuildingDestination 4 - 846 G StreetBuilt: 1903Period: Transitional Architecture c. 1900-1910Description:Bay windows across the top of this three-store building are delightful reminders that this structure goes back to another time in Arcata. Built in 1903, the building provided store space at the street level and upstairs rooms for the Park House or Park Hotel, whose handsome windows overlooked the community's little park--Arcata Plaza.The first occupant of the north store was the Diamond Fruit Company, which advertised fresh fruits and vegetables, along with nuts, delicacies and novelties. The Popular Cigar Store shared the space along with its "club rooms" at the rear where the male members of the community came to read, smoke and play cards. In 1907, A. Banducci bought the business which he ran at this location until 1925. The Sequoia Delicatessen and Grocery continued here until 1943, followed by Malm and Murray's Sporting Goods, which lasted into the late 1960's.The middle store started out as the Aloha Ice Cream Parlors in 1903 and that business, under a variety of names Johnson Bros., Garcelon Confectionery, Dougherty's Ice Cream Parlors, Williams' Sweet Shop and the Varsity provided local residents with ice cream, candy and "fountain lunches" for over seventy¬five years.The south store was the long time home of the Pacific Telephone and Telegraph Company office. Beginning with its first lease in 1908, the company kept the community's lines humming with operator assisted calls from this G Street office until dial phones were installed in Arcata in 1956.The building retains much of its original architecture, notably the three bays and the single windows of the upper story. Storefront changes have occurred, but the transom windows, recessed entrances, awnings and large plate glass display windows are reminiscent of Plaza buildings in the 1920's and before.
Gambi Building
Gambi BuildingDestination 5 - 830 G StreetBuilt: 1902Period: Transitional Architecture c. 1900-1910Description:To get a sense that this building has some history, try to imagine it as it was in the 1920's. Large, street level display windows flanked a recessed doorway, above which extended a row of transom windows covered by the ever popular canvas awning. Wide shiplap siding, painted white, covered the building. Brackets lined the false front cornice and paired bay windows articulated the front facade. Built as a one story building for Henry Sorenson's Satisfactory Grocery in 1902, the Gambi Building has windows projected from the upper facade.The building was remodeled in 1909 by Arcata master builder Nelson Johansen. The second story was added to provide six rooms for the Gambi family's living quarters above the Gambi Fruit Store, moved from its previous location on the north side of the Plaza. To make their downtown and upstairs residence just like home, Johansen provided the family with a clothes reel platform and a roof garden.Following Guglielmo Gambi's retirement to his Willow Creek farm in 1925, the building had a string of occupants including the ABC Cash and Carry Grocery, a feed store, jeweler, the Ritz Cafe and Shorty's Cafe, where one could "see and hear the Lone Star Rangers, Good old "Mountain Music" in the late 1930's. The College Creamery opened in 1940, followed by the College Fountain Grill, Chilton's Cafe and the Dinner Bell Cafe.Restoration of the Gambi Building with shiplap siding, decorative woodwork, and bay windows would enable this once handsome storefront to again contribute to the special qualities of Arcata's Plaza.
Western Auto Building
Western Auto BuildingDestination 6 - 826 G StreetBuilt: 1908Period: Transitional Architecture c. 1900-1910Description: A modern front and unassuming appearance belie this building's colorful past as the Bavarian Saloon, C.C. Crawford's Hardware store, and Arcata's first "moving picture show" (1908). All of these uses were in the building when it was located at the comer of 8th and G Streets. Following its relocation to the present site in 1911, the building provided space for a jewelry store, a ten pinnet alley, grocery, LeVeque's card room and cigar factory, and a bakery. In 1915, Elias Wilson and Son opened a business here, variously known as the Idle Hour Shaving Parlor, Idle Hour Billiard Parlor, Idle Hour Cigar Store and Billiard Parlors, and Idle Hour Pool Rooms. A year later the Wilson's were arrested for trying to set fire to the building, but that wasn't the end of the Idle Hour's problems, only the beginning.With the passage of Prohibition in 1919, the proprietors of the pool halls were raided, fined and padlocked more than once as dry squads located the illegal liquor. Undaunted, the pool room owners just came up with new ways of concealing the booze in secret drawers and unlikely looking containers, even using a wall to hide the still, discovered in the 1950's. During the 1930's and 1940's, Purity Grocery, Allen and Hensel's Furniture Co., and the Humboldt Gas Co. had their businesses in the old Idle Hour. Western Auto opened in 1951, serving the community for thirty years at this location.The only building on the east side of the Plaza to survive the November 1889 fire, it was built in the spring of 1889 for Peter Anderson's saloon. Before its present modem look, this late 19th century building had an unusual slanted cornice, decorative brackets, large display windows and transoms. And, as always, the canvas awning which could be rolled in or out as the weather dictated.
Plaza Garage
Plaza Garage808 G St.Built: 1913Period: Craftsman Architecture c. 1910-1930Description: In 1903, lumberman Noah Falk drove the first automobile in Arcata and the town was never the same from that time forward as new services and skills were needed to keep the new fangled contraptions on the road. In response to a growing need for repair services, George Averell and Moses Greenwald had the Plaza Garage built in 1913. Moving his auto repair business into town from Alliance, William Crawford pumped gas, sold tires, and repaired automobiles at this location until 1926.After Crawford moved out, the street level spaces were remodeled into storefronts for a variety of businesses including long time tenants 0. Ekenberg's tailor shop and Emelio Canclini's College Shoe Store, and, after the Arcata Electric Shop, the offices of the Pacific Gas and Electric Co.Although built as a garage, this flat roof building was not unattractive. In fact, its projecting cornice, block brackets, decorative dentils, and classic comer pilasters created quite an imposing building on this Plaza comer.During the 1930's, a coat of stucco, light green above and chocolate below, was added to the building, but the major modernizing changes occurred in 1950 when the windows were altered, modem storefronts created, and a flagstone trim added. The early 1970's saw the building encased in metal, the final blow to the original architecture of the Plaza Garage.
