1531 J Street

1916

Present and Original Owner:
Eureka Woman’s Club

Architectural Notes:  Here we have a particularly important non-residential Craftsman.  Architect Frank Georgeson designed this clubhouse and two other buildings on this tour.  Murray Pine and E. B. Malcolm were the builders. 

Notable Features:  Notice the low-hipped roof and the delineation between the shingles from the upper story and shiplap first floor.  The vertical, slightly projecting bays and stacked window array balance the house. The two rooms fronting the auditorium and the entry hall between them are nearly untouched since completion 87 years ago.  All have a wonderful Craftsman feeling created mostly in redwood.

Historical Notes:  This building was originally for the meetings of the Monday Club Federation of Eureka, founded in 1901 and one of the early members of the California Federation of Woman’s Clubs.  The Eureka Woman’s Club, with a membership of 133, came about in 1923 with consolidation of three separate organizations:  the Monday Club, the Wednesday Club and the Departmental Club.  These clubs had similar goals and were not strictly “social clubs” but met to further educate their members and work toward expanding women’s rights.

An impressively long and varied series of programs have been held in this structure, which has an indelible place in the cultural life of Eureka.