{"nrhp_refnum":"76000483","name":"Punta Gorda Light Station","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"10.5 mi. SW of Petrolia","address_restricted":false,"city":"Petrolia","county":"Humboldt County","state":"CA","lat":40.24723723300005,"lon":-124.34584336492338,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1976-09-01","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Transportation","Communications"],"significance_levels":["state"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A remote Pacific coast light station near Petrolia, Humboldt County, California, built from 1910 with a light first shown in 1912. Only the reinforced concrete lighthouse and the oil house remain standing.","why_significant":"The nomination argues the station matters less as a navigation aid than for the unusual transportation and communications problems of building and running it in an extremely inaccessible location. It was described as a frontier settlement in a modern world. It was built after a series of shipwrecks, including the loss of 77 lives on the Columbia in 1907.","narrative":"Punta Gorda Light Station occupies a stretch of beach about ten miles southwest of Petrolia in Humboldt County, California. Construction began in 1910 after a run of shipwrecks off Punta Gorda, including the 1907 loss of the passenger ship Columbia with 77 lives. The fog signal began operating in 1911 and the light first shone in January 1912. Supplies first came ashore by high line and sled, and later by horse and wagon, though flooded creeks cut the station off for about seven months each year. Staff reportedly called it the Alcatraz of Light Houses. It became the costliest station to run in its Coast Guard district and was closed in 1951. The Bureau of Land Management burned the decayed wood buildings in the late 1960s. Two structures remain: a 27-foot concrete and iron lighthouse and a small concrete oil house, both weathered and open to the elements.","period_of_significance":"1910-1951","architect_builder":"John Riddle - former lighthouse Engineer, 12th Lighthouse District","architectural_style":null,"criteria":[],"status_note":"Deteriorated and unoccupied. The light was extinguished in 1951 and the wood frame buildings were burned in the late 1960s. Only the lighthouse and oil house still stand, without windows or doors.","vacant_flag":true,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:55:32.076188-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_CA/76000483.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/76000483/d78c7a01c3-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/76000483/d78c7a01c3-1600.webp","licence":"Public domain","author":"United States Coast Guard","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:USCGpuntagorda.JPG\" rel=\"noopener\">United States Coast Guard</a>, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:USCGpuntagorda.JPG"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/123858784","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Punta_Gorda_Light","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q7260532"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/california/humboldt-county/punta-gorda-light-station-76000483/"}