{"nrhp_refnum":"78000793","name":"White's Gulch Arrastra","other_names":[],"category":"site","location":{"address":"E of Swayers Bar","address_restricted":false,"city":"Sawyers Bar","county":"Siskiyou County","state":"CA","lat":41.281384271000036,"lon":-123.07637950699996,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1978-12-22","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Industry","Historic - Non-Aboriginal"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A circular, stone-flagged arrastra (an ore-grinding pit) about 12 feet across, located on Forest Road 40N61 east of Sawyers Bar in Siskiyou County, California, on a Lanky Bob mining claim. Its exact construction date is unknown.","why_significant":"It is reported as the only known arrastra remaining in Siskiyou County and is complete apart from its wooden parts, unaltered and in its original setting. Arrastras were the main ore-dressing method in the county in the late 1890s, so it illustrates early local mining history. It also has research potential for historical archaeology and value as an educational site.","narrative":"Along a Forest Service road east of Sawyers Bar, a circular stone-flagged pit about 12 feet across marks where gold-bearing quartz was once ground by hand-built machinery. This arrastra has rock walls, four granite drag blocks and the remains of a center post, and the flagstones still show striations cut by the dragged stones. Its wooden water wheel and gearing have rotted away, and a Douglas fir roughly 80 years old now grows from the floor, which suggests the last use came at least that long ago. The site sits beside White's Gulch on a Lanky Bob claim, and two water-powered arrastras were listed on the gulch in 1898. At that time arrastras outnumbered stamp mills in Siskiyou County, twenty-eight to twenty-five. This one is reported as the only known arrastra left in the county, unaltered apart from its wooden parts and in its original setting. It is valued for archaeological research and as an easily reached teaching site.","period_of_significance":null,"architect_builder":"Unknown","architectural_style":null,"criteria":[],"status_note":"Described as unaltered; wooden parts such as the water wheel, cross-beams and cog wheels are missing or rotted, apart from a small part of the center post. A Douglas fir about 80 years old grows from the floor.","vacant_flag":null,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:55:31.250382-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_CA/78000793.pdf"},"photo":null,"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/123861993","wikipedia":null,"wikidata":null},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/california/siskiyou-county/whites-gulch-arrastra-78000793/"}