{"nrhp_refnum":"74000516","name":"Roop's Fort","other_names":["Roop's Trading Post,Fort Defiance,Roop House"],"category":"building","location":{"address":"N. Weatherlow St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Susanville","county":"Lassen County","state":"CA","lat":40.418786183000066,"lon":-120.65670130999996,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1974-05-02","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Exploration/Settlement","Politics/Government","Architecture","Social History"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A log building, 21 by 30 feet, built in 1854 by Isaac Roop on North Weatherlow Street in Susanville, Lassen County, California, next to the city park. It is known as Roop's Fort, Roop's Trading Post, Fort Defiance and Roop House.","why_significant":"It was the first building erected by white settlers in Lassen County and the first trading post emigrants met after Fort Hall on their way west. It served as a meeting place for the short-lived Nataqua territory and was fortified as Fort Defiance during the 1863-64 Sagebrush War boundary dispute. Its builder, Isaac Roop, became provisional governor of what became Nevada Territory.","narrative":"Built in 1854 by Isaac Roop, this log building on North Weatherlow Street in Susanville measures 21 by 30 feet. It has no foundation, a shake roof, one floor and a loft, and it is large for a log structure. It remains on its original site, and its only alteration is a replacement shake roof made to copy the nearly vanished original. It is regarded as the first building put up by white settlers in Lassen County and served as a trading post, the first one emigrants reached after Fort Hall. Roop used it to store merchandise and supplies, and settlers met there in 1856 to form the Nataqua territory and the town of Susanville. During the Sagebrush War of 1863-64, a boundary dispute between Plumas County in California and Roop County in Nevada Territory, supporters of Roop fortified it, and it became known as Fort Defiance. The dispute ended with the survey of the state line and the creation of Lassen County in 1864.","period_of_significance":"19th Century; specific dates 1854 (construction) and 1863-64 (Sagebrush War)","architect_builder":"Isaac Roop (builder)","architectural_style":null,"criteria":[],"status_note":"Condition fair; logs and roof in fair condition. Located on its original site. The only alteration is a new shake roof copying the old one. Owned by the City of Susanville and used as a park/museum.","vacant_flag":null,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:55:31.514615-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_CA/74000516.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/74000516/d0050d34da-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/74000516/d0050d34da-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"Finetooth","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Roop%27s_Fort.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Finetooth</a>, <a href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY-SA 3.0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Roop%27s_Fort.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/123858897","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roop%27s_Fort","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q7366348"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/california/lassen-county/roops-fort-74000516/"}