{"nrhp_refnum":"77000332","name":"Farallone Islands","other_names":["Los Farallones","South Farallons","Southeast Farallon"],"category":"site","location":{"address":"28 mi. W of San Francisco","address_restricted":false,"city":"San Francisco","county":"San Francisco","state":"CA","lat":37.74575941700007,"lon":-123.0844539803191,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1977-03-08","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Commerce","Exploration/Settlement"],"significance_levels":["national"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A group of rocky volcanic islets about 28 miles west of San Francisco, California, including Southeast Farallon, Middle Farallon and the North Farallons, covering about 211 nominated acres. Southeast Farallon holds a lighthouse and associated station buildings.","why_significant":"The islands have a recorded history longer than that of the mainland of San Francisco and were long valued for their abundant marine wildlife. They were visited by Cabrillo and Drake, exploited for fur seals, sea otters and sea bird eggs in the 19th century, and later protected as a wildlife refuge. The lighthouse of 1855 and its fog signal add to their importance for commerce and navigation.","narrative":"Rising from the Pacific about 28 miles west of San Francisco, the Farallon Islands are steep volcanic rocks totaling roughly 120 acres, with the main island of Southeast Farallon about 70 acres. Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo landed in 1539, and Sir Francis Drake stopped in 1579 to gather sea lion and bird meat for his crew. In the 1800s the islands were stripped of fur seals and sea otters by New England, Russian and Mexican hunters, and egg companies collected millions of murre eggs to feed Gold Rush San Francisco, sometimes in violent disputes. The government completed a lighthouse in 1855, first lit in 1856, with a fog signal designed by Major Hartman Bache. Coast Guard staff left when it was automated in 1972. Protected as a wildlife refuge since 1909, the islands again hold the largest sea bird rookery south of Alaska and remain close to their primitive condition.","period_of_significance":"1500-1999","architect_builder":"Fog signal designed by Major Hartman Bache of the U.S. Engineers","architectural_style":null,"criteria":[],"status_note":"Lighthouse automated in 1972 and run by remote control; a minimum of two biologists live on the island to protect and study wildlife. Form marks status as occupied.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:55:32.130523-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_CA/77000332.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/77000332/22bb4669ba-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/77000332/22bb4669ba-1600.webp","licence":"Public domain","author":"Jan Roletto","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:SE_Farallon_Island.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Jan Roletto</a>, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:SE_Farallon_Island.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/123861099","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Farallon_Islands","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q1396187"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/california/san-francisco/farallone-islands-77000332/"}