{"nrhp_refnum":"78000766","name":"Corral de Piedra","other_names":[],"category":"site","location":{"address":"S of San Luis Obispo on Price Canyon Rd.","address_restricted":false,"city":"San Luis Obispo","county":"San Luis Obispo County","state":"CA","lat":35.19357845800005,"lon":-120.62553129099996,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1978-05-22","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Historic - Aboriginal"],"significance_levels":["state"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A one-acre archaeological site of a dry stone wall corral and a mortared brick and stone feature, on an oak-woodland hill above upper Price Canyon, about one mile south of San Luis Obispo near Edna, California. It predates 1841 and dates to the Mexican period.","why_significant":"The remains are described as rare, dwindling physical evidence of land use and cattle ranching during California's Mexican period. The corral gave its name to the Rancho Corral de Piedra land grant, shown on the grant map, which was given to Jose Maria Villaviciencio, a prominent military and political figure of the time. The ranch was later among the first properties bought by the Steele brothers, credited with founding the area's dairy industry.","narrative":"Corral de Piedra is an archaeological site near Edna, about one mile south of San Luis Obispo on Price Canyon Road. It covers roughly one acre on an oak-covered sandstone hill and consists of a rectangular dry stone enclosure built of small boulders, an attached L-shaped stone wall, and a mortared brick and stone feature that may be a fireplace remains. The corral dates from before 1841, when cattle roamed unfenced and stone pens held part of the herd for branding and slaughter. It gave its name to Rancho Corral de Piedra, a land grant awarded to Jose Maria Villaviciencio, a captain who took part in the 1836 California Rebellion and held several local offices. The grant was enlarged in 1846, and the ranch later passed to the Steele brothers, who helped establish the regional dairy industry. The site was listed as a rare surviving example of Mexican-period ranching practices. Its stonework remains in good condition, with minor disturbance from cattle and campers.","period_of_significance":"1800-1899","architect_builder":null,"architectural_style":null,"criteria":[],"status_note":"Good integrity with only minor disturbance of the stone features; modern intrusions are cattle grazing and occasional camping. Present use is grazing land.","vacant_flag":null,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:55:31.342236-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_CA/78000766.pdf"},"photo":null,"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/123861456","wikipedia":null,"wikidata":null},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/california/san-luis-obispo-county/corral-de-piedra-78000766/"}