{"nrhp_refnum":"77000117","name":"Tharp's Log","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"NE of Three Rivers","address_restricted":false,"city":"Three Rivers","county":"Tulare County","state":"CA","lat":36.561092178000024,"lon":-118.74244710699998,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1977-03-08","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Exploration/Settlement"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A fallen, fire-hollowed giant sequoia log on the northern edge of Log Meadow in the Giant Forest of Sequoia National Park, near Three Rivers, California, adapted as a cabin around 1861 by pioneer Hale Tharp.","why_significant":"The nomination argues local significance in exploration and settlement. It was the summer cattle camp of Hale Tharp, the first European man to enter and explore Giant Forest, and was apparently the first cabin built in the middle and upper elevations of what is now Sequoia National Park.","narrative":"Tharp's Log is a fallen giant sequoia, hollowed by fire, lying on the northern edge of Log Meadow in the Giant Forest of Sequoia National Park. About 55 feet of the hollow trunk is large enough for people, and it was fitted out as a cabin with a shake-enclosed west end, a fireplace of local granite boulders, a shuttered window with horseshoe hinges, and a bed, table and bench made of redwood slabs. Local pioneer Hale Tharp entered Giant Forest in 1858, the first recorded entry by a non-Native person, and carved his name on the log. Shortly after 1860 he began grazing cattle in the meadows each summer and used the log as a cabin, as did several hired hands, until the park was established in 1890. The National Park Service bought the surrounding 120 acres in 1920 and opened the cabin to the public. It was restored in the 1930s, served as a trailside museum, and was partly rebuilt in the early 1950s.","period_of_significance":"1800-1899","architect_builder":"Hale Tharp","architectural_style":null,"criteria":[],"status_note":"Condition rated good and original site; used as a park museum/display, publicly accessible without restriction. Restored in the early 1930s and apparently partly rebuilt in the early 1950s.","vacant_flag":null,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:55:32.135109-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_CA/77000117.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/77000117/53be93dee1-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/77000117/53be93dee1-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 2.0","author":"Stuart Orford","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Tharp%27s_log.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Stuart Orford</a>, <a href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY-SA 2.0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Tharp%27s_log.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/123862254","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tharp%27s_Log","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q7710807"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/california/tulare-county/tharps-log-77000117/"}