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DPR 523L (Rev. 1/1995)(Word 9/2013) State of California Natural Resources Agency Primary# DEPARTMENT OF PARKS AND RECREATION HRI # Trinomial CONTINUATION SHEET Property Name: 493 St. John Street Page 8 of 11 Vernacular housing forms in Pleasanton from this period include three distinct types: small, single- story, ell-shaped dwellings, one or one-and-a-half-story side gable dwellings, and one or one-and-a- half-story end dwellings. The most numerous are the one-and-a-half-story, wood-frame, side gable dwellings, typically measuring a single room deep. These properties may have had modest classical or Greek Revival detailing such as cornice returns on gable ends, though most surviving examples retain little ornament. The dwellings typically had a symmetrical façade with a slightly off-center main entrance, and full-length, attached front porch.13 The cottage at 493 St. John Street is a modest vernacular dwelling without a definite architectural style. The accessory structures on the parcel are utilitarian. Occupants According to Museum on Main, the main house at 493 St. John Street was constructed by Mr. Derendinger in 1885.14 Joseph Derendinger was born in France in 1842, and died in Pleasanton, Alameda in 1888. He was married to Magdalena Mohr in 1875.15 His occupation was recorded as wheel wright, wood worker, and wagon maker in the 1880s records.16 A newspaper announcement from 1881 mentioned that Joseph Derendinger’s residence was about to be finished.17 According to the 1916 U.S. Voter Registration records and the 1917-1918 World War I Draft Registration Cards, the Derendinger family continued to live on St. John Street in the early 20th century.18 The property was later purchased by George Trimingham.19 The Trimingham family lived at the 493 St. John Street property from at least 1930 to 1965. The 1940 federal census lists painter Earl Trimingham and his family living at 34 St. John Street. The rear house at 36 St. John Street was also occupied by the members of the same family.20 Earl Trimingham was the mayor and city councilman in Pleasanton from 1937 to 1950. A painting contractor and a World War I veteran, he also served on the Pleasanton Housing Authority board. His obituary in Oakland Tribune mentions his widow, Edith, living at the family home at 493 St. John Street in 1965.21 A house tour brochure from Museum on Main notes that the Trimingham family owned the property in the 1980s. Current Historic Status The subject parcel has not previously been identified on any state or national historic resources inventory. According to the Pleasanton General Plan 2005-2025, it is located within the Downtown Commercial Center which was identified as a “heritage neighborhood.” The property was also identified as a historic structure in the Pleasanton General Plan 2005-2025.22 The most recent Downtown Specific Plan (adopted August 2019), Pleasanton Downtown Historic Context Statement (March 2015), or Pleasanton Limited Scope Historic Resource Survey (August 2015) do not identify the parcel as historic. Significance Evaluation – National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) & California Register of Historical Resources (CRHR) Evaluation23 Criterion A/1 – Association with significant events The main house at 493 St. John Street was constructed in the 1880s during the post-railroad subdivision and development period in Pleasanton that took place from ca. 1869 to 1900. The area remained sparsely populated in the 1850s, but the arrival of the railroad increased the population as subdivisions along the axes of Main Street and the railroad formed the core of the Pleasanton town site in the 1860s. The arrival