{"nrhp_refnum":"77000322","name":"Griffith Quarry","other_names":[],"category":"site","location":{"address":"Taylor Rd.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Penryn","county":"Placer County","state":"CA","lat":38.84941956600005,"lon":-121.16328490682795,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1977-10-20","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Industry","Commerce","Historic - Non-Aboriginal"],"significance_levels":["state"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A former granite quarry site at Penryn, Placer County, California, developed from 1864 by Welsh mason Griffith Griffith. The only surviving structure is the 1877 granite quarry office building, with foundation remnants of other buildings.","why_significant":"The nomination argues the quarry shaped Penryn's economy and early settlement, supplying granite for major buildings and monuments in Sacramento and San Francisco. It was the site of California's first granite polishing mill, built in 1874. Its significance is given in building construction, commerce and industrial technology.","narrative":"Griffith Quarry, at Penryn in Placer County, was opened in 1864 by Griffith Griffith, a mason from Wales. At its peak the site held five major structures, railroad tracks and the quarry itself. A polishing mill built in 1874, the first in California, could polish 100 feet of granite per day. By the mid-1870s the operation employed 250 men full time, changing a local economy that had relied on placer mining and limited farming. Penryn granite went into the State Capitol in Sacramento, the Garfield Monument in Golden Gate Park, retaining walls at Fort Point and Alcatraz, and the Stanford University cornerstone. Today the one surviving building is the 1877 office, a one-story structure of rough-cut granite measuring about 18 by 36 feet, with a chimney at each end and a granite bust of Griffith over the north door. Foundation remnants, iron loops set in the rock and the water-filled pit remain.","period_of_significance":"1800-1899","architect_builder":"Griffith Griffith","architectural_style":null,"criteria":[],"status_note":"The office building is in fair condition with some deterioration, including a roof needing repair and loose mortar. The quarry site is dormant, overgrown and partly filled with water. The form lists the property as unoccupied.","vacant_flag":true,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:55:31.22743-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_CA/77000322.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/77000322/39390d0358-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/77000322/39390d0358-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY 2.5","author":"The original uploader was J.smith at English Wikipedia.","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:GriffithQuarry.JPG\" rel=\"noopener\">The original uploader was J.smith at English Wikipedia.</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:GriffithQuarry.JPG"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/123860398","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Griffith_Quarry","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q14682076"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/california/placer-county/griffith-quarry-77000322/"}