Photograph of Dunbar Hotel — Photograph by Los Angeles, CC BY-SA 3.0. Via Wikimedia Commons.

Somerville Hotel

Built in 1928. Listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1976. 18 historic topographic surveys show this location, the earliest from 1894.

From the record

“The Dunbar Hotel, originally known as the Hotel Somerville, was the focal point of the Central Avenue African-American community in Los Angeles, California, during the 1930s and 1940s. Built in 1928 by John Alexander Somerville, it was known for its first year as the Hotel Somerville.”
Wikipedia article Dunbar Hotel, CC BY-SA 4.0.

One of 616 National Register listings published here for Los Angeles County · listed in 1976 · category: Building · built in 1928.

Sources: the Wikipedia article · the case file at the National Archives · the National Register database, National Park Service

The listing

What is counted as historic. The nomination lists 1 building as contributing to the listing.
Address. 4225 S. Central Ave., Los Angeles, 90011
When was it listed? January 1976
Category. building
Census division. Los Angeles
When was it built? 1928
National Register reference number. 76000491 - the number the National Park Service assigned this property when it was listed, and the key its nomination file is catalogued under at the National Archives.

Then and now

1894 to 1979

The ground this property stands on, surveyed 85 years apart. Drag the handle to wipe between them. Both sheets are United States Geological Survey originals; neither has been altered.

Topographic sheet covering Somerville Hotel, surveyed 1979

Topographic sheet covering Somerville Hotel, surveyed 1894

Fires near this property

182 since 2005

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 182 fires within 5 miles of Somerville Hotel between 2005 and 2020, burning about 1,097 acres in total. None started naturally. 17 were recorded as arson. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a fire counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.

Reported cause	Fires
Missing data/not specified/undetermined	115
Smoking	20
Arson/incendiarism	17
Misuse of fire by a minor	15
Equipment and vehicle use	6
Debris and open burning	6
Railroad operations and maintenance	2
Recreation and ceremony	1

The most recent of them, most recent first, with the day each was reported and the service that recorded it.

Date	Cause	Size	Reported by	Name on the report
5 September 2019	Arson/incendiarism	under an acre	Los Angeles County Fire Department	not named
5 September 2005	Missing data/not specified/undetermined	under an acre	California Department of Forestry & Fire Protection	not named
30 September 2018	Missing data/not specified/undetermined	under an acre	California Department of Forestry & Fire Protection	not named
3 September 2012	Smoking	under an acre	Los Angeles County Fire Department	not named
23 September 2005	Smoking	1.0 acres	California Department of Forestry & Fire Protection	not named
18 September 2012	Misuse of fire by a minor	under an acre	Los Angeles County Fire Department	not named
15 September 2010	Missing data/not specified/undetermined	under an acre	California Department of Forestry & Fire Protection	not named
15 September 2007	Smoking	1.0 acres	California Department of Forestry & Fire Protection	not named

Every fire recorded in Los Angeles County

Mines and quarries near this property

10 of 16 shown

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 16 workings within 5 miles of Somerville Hotel: 14 past producers, 2 producers. 2 still produce. What was taken out: Clay, Sand and Gravel, Construction, Limestone, General, Talc-Soapstone. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a quarry counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.

Site	Commodity	Status
L.A. Mill	Talc-Soapstone	Producer
California Portland Cement Company	Limestone, General, Clay	Past Producer
Southwestern Portland Cement Co	Limestone, General, Clay	Past Producer
Alameda St. Plant	Sand and Gravel, Construction	Past Producer
Blue Diamond Corp. - Alameda Pit	Sand and Gravel, Construction	Past Producer
Western Rock & Sand Co.	Sand and Gravel, Construction	Past Producer
City Brick Co. Pit	Clay	Past Producer
Davidson Brick Company	Clay	Producer
Elysian Park Plant	Clay	Past Producer
K & K	Clay	Past Producer

Every working recorded in Los Angeles County

Storms near this property

8 since 2000

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Los Angeles, the town this property stands in, in 8 storm reports between 2000 and 2026: 3 flood, 2 thunderstorm wind, 1 high wind, 1 tornado. The reports record 2 injuries. Each account below is quoted exactly as the forecast office filed it, from the NOAA Storm Events Database, and each date opens the federal record of that event.

When	Event	Place named	Harm	What the report says
March 2023	Tornado (EF1)	East Los Angeles	1 hurt	A weak tornado developed in the community of Montebello. The EF1 tornado impacted the area around the intersection of Washington Boulevard and Maple Avenue. There was substantial damage to the industrial warehouse and commercial business district, including nearly total roof collapse in one building and a total of 17 damaged structures. Numerous vehicles were damaged due to flying debris.
February 2000	Thunderstorm Wind	Los Angeles	1 hurt	no account filed
February 2026	Flood	Los Angeles	-	Heavy rain produced significant roadway flooding on Interstate 110 near West 39th Street.
February 2026	Flash Flood	Los Angeles	-	Heavy rainfall generated flash flooding near the intersection of Interstates 10 and 110.
February 2026	Thunderstorm Wind	Los Angeles	-	Strong thunderstorm winds knocked down several trees in the South Los Angeles area.
March 2002	High Wind	Los Angeles	-	no account filed
February 2000	Flood	Los Angeles	-	no account filed
April 2000	Flood	Los Angeles	-	no account filed

Every storm recorded in Los Angeles County

Maps showing this location

18 surveys

United States Geological Survey topographic sheets whose coverage includes this point. Matched by taking the coordinate the National Park Service records for this property, then testing that coordinate against the published boundary of every sheet.

1894 USGS Los Angeles quadrangle1:62500
1896 USGS Santa Monica quadrangle1:62500
1898 USGS Santa Monica quadrangle1:62500
1900 USGS Los Angeles quadrangle1:62500 - 4 printings
1901 USGS Southern California Sheet No. 1 quadrangle1:250000 - 6 printings
1902 USGS Santa Monica quadrangle1:62500 - 4 printings
1904 USGS Southern California Sheet No. 1 quadrangle1:250000 - 2 printings
1920 USGS Santa Monica quadrangle1:62500
1921 USGS Santa Monica quadrangle1:62500 - 3 printings
1928 USGS Los Angeles quadrangle1:24000 - 2 printings
1949 USGS Los Angeles quadrangle1:250000 - 2 printings
1953 USGS Hollywood quadrangle1:24000 - 2 printings
1955 USGS Los Angeles quadrangle1:250000
1959 USGS Los Angeles quadrangle1:250000 - 3 printings
1966 USGS Hollywood quadrangle1:24000 - 4 printings
1966 USGS Los Angeles quadrangle1:250000
1975 USGS Los Angeles quadrangle1:250000 - 2 printings
1979 USGS Los Angeles quadrangle1:100000

Listed places nearby

6 within 8 miles

Other National Register properties close enough to walk or drive between, ordered by distance from this one. Both positions come from the same geocoding pass that matched these properties to their map sheets.

Property	Distance	Listed
Golden State Mutual Life Insurance Building	under 500 feet	1998
Ralph J. Bunche House	0.3 miles	1978
Angelus Funeral Home	0.4 miles	2009
Fire Station No. 14	0.4 miles	2009
Lincoln Theater	0.6 miles	2009
Prince Hall Masonic Temple	0.7 miles	2009

Sources for this property

National Archives record	The nomination case file for reference 76000491 in Record Group 79.
Wikipedia article	Community-written account of this property, licensed CC BY-SA.
Los Angeles County	All 616 listed properties in this county.

Provenance

Listing record. National Park Service National Register of Historic Places, listed-properties dataset, current to 2026-05-22.
Map join. Address geocoded through the United States Census geocoder, then tested against the published boundary of every sheet in the USGS Historical Topographic Map Collection.
How this page is made. Listing fields come from federal records; map-sheet coverage is a labelled coordinate-to-boundary calculation, not a source-field claim.
Wildfire. Short, Karen C. 2022. Spatial wildfire occurrence data for the United States, 1992-2020 [FPA_FOD_20221014]. 6th Edition. Fort Collins, CO: Forest Service Research Data Archive. https://doi.org/10.2737/RDS-2013-0009.6 Collected with United States Government funding and usable without additional permissions or fees.
Mines and quarries. USGS Mineral Resources Data System (MRDS) https://mrdata.usgs.gov/mrds/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105.
Storms. NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/stormevents/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105. Narratives are quoted verbatim from the National Weather Service report and are not edited or summarised.