{"nrhp_refnum":"66000221","name":"Sutter's Fort","other_names":["Sutter's Fort State Historic Monument"],"category":"site","location":{"address":"2701 L St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Sacramento","county":"Sacramento County","state":"CA","lat":38.57255428450003,"lon":-121.47127477076728,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1966-10-15","is_nhl":true,"nhl_designated_date":"1961-01-20","areas_of_significance":["Commerce","Conservation","Exploration/Settlement"],"significance_levels":["national"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"Sutter's Fort is a reconstructed adobe frontier fort and State Historic Monument on L Street between 26th and 28th Streets in Sacramento, California. John A. Sutter began it in 1839 and its outer walls were completed in 1844.","why_significant":"It was the most strategically located site in Northern California in the 1840s, where most immigrant trails converged. Sutter's hospitality to overland migrants made the fort an invaluable aid to American settlement of California. Its history is also tied to the start of the Gold Rush after gold was found at Sutter's mill in 1848.","narrative":"Sutter's Fort in Sacramento began in 1839 as a large quadrangular adobe fort built by John A. Sutter, a Swiss-born settler. The original fort measured about 330 feet long, with adobe walls 18 to 36 inches thick enclosing some 25 buildings. Because it lay where many overland trails converged, it became the destination of numerous westbound migrants, whom Sutter fed, clothed, sheltered and often employed. By 1845 the settlement included a tannery, gristmill, blacksmith shop and other workshops. After gold was found at Sutter's mill in 1848, workers left and the fort declined. The Native Sons of the Golden West bought it in 1890, and the State of California restored it in 1891-93. It joined the state park system in 1937. Only the two-story central adobe is original; it now displays pioneer artifacts, and reconstructed rooms show crafts such as blacksmithing and rifle-making. The site was recognized for its role in the American settlement of California.","period_of_significance":"1800-1899 (specific dates 1839-44, 1890-91)","architect_builder":null,"architectural_style":null,"criteria":[],"status_note":"Owned by the State of California and operated as a museum with pioneer exhibits; the form describes it as occupied and open to the public. The fort was reconstructed in 1891-93, and only the central two-story adobe is original.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:55:31.143119-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_CA/66000221_NHL.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/66000221/433e124be0-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/66000221/433e124be0-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY 2.5","author":"Ian Howard","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:ISH_WC_SuttersFort4.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Ian Howard</a>, <a href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.5\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY 2.5</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:ISH_WC_SuttersFort4.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/123858006","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sutter%27s_Fort","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q2792626"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/california/sacramento-county/sutters-fort-66000221/"}