The Golden State Mutual Life Insurance Building was built in 1928 and for many years housed one of Los Angeles's most successful African American-owned businesses, the Golden State Mutual Life Insurance Company. The building is located in the heart of the city's Central Avenue commercial district that was a center of the jazz world in the 1930s and 1940s. The two-story building was designed by architect James H. Garrott and constructed by Louis Blodgett (both African Americans) in the Mission Revival style.^[3] The company occupied the second floor, while the first floor was rented out to local merchants.^[4] The noted Dunbar Hotel is located on the next block to the north.

Golden State Mutual Life Insurance Building
U.S. National Register of Historic Places
Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monument No. 580
Golden State Mutual Life Insurance Building, 2008
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Location	4261 S. Central Ave., South Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California
Coordinates	34°0′23″N 118°15′21″W / 34.00639°N 118.25583°W / 34.00639; -118.25583
Built	1928
Architect	Garrott, James H.; Blodgett, Louis
Architectural style	Mission/Spanish Revival
NRHP reference No.	98000712[1]
LAHCM No.	580
Significant dates
Added to NRHP	June 26, 1998
Designated LAHCM	June 29, 1993[2]

In 1949, the Golden State Mutual Life Insurance Company moved to its new headquarters at 1999 West Adams, now also an historic building. The structure was later converted into a child development center known as the Dunbar Child Development Center. In 1998, the building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places.