{"nrhp_refnum":"81000147","name":"Old Borges Ranch","other_names":[],"category":"district","location":{"address":"1035 Castlerock Rd.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Walnut Creek","county":"Contra Costa County","state":"CA","lat":37.88939678150004,"lon":-122.00638420356745,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1981-07-07","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Agriculture","Exploration/Settlement"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A historic cattle ranch complex of seven main buildings, structures and sites on the foothills of Mt. Diablo at 1035 Castle Rock Road, Walnut Creek, Contra Costa County, California. The Borges family began building it around 1899-1901.","why_significant":"The ranch is described as a prime example of a rural cattle ranch from the late 1890s and early 1900s, scarcely changed since the turn of the century. It is said to be the sole surviving ranch in an area that is now heavily urbanized. It has stayed in the Borges family for four generations and still operates as a working cattle ranch, illustrating the life of the families who settled the Walnut Creek and Concord area.","narrative":"Old Borges Ranch is a working cattle ranch in the foothills of Mt. Diablo, near Walnut Creek, California. Its main buildings include a redwood farmhouse built in 1901, a horse barn from 1903, a milk and cow barn and milkhouse from 1913, a wagonshed, a second-generation house from 1937, and corrals and an early outhouse. Frank Borges, a Portuguese immigrant, and his sons built the mile-long access road in 1899, and the family used the land for cattle and dairy operations across four generations. Once part of the San Miguel Rancho land grant, the property is described as the sole surviving ranch in an area now heavily urbanized. Contra Costa County bought it in 1976 for open space, while Borges family members still lease grazing rights. Most buildings have seen only minor changes, and the farmhouse is the one structure needing rehabilitation. It preserves a picture of ranch life around 1900.","period_of_significance":"Various dates, 1890s to present","architect_builder":"Unknown","architectural_style":null,"criteria":[],"status_note":"Publicly owned by Contra Costa County since 1976 and in use as a museum, park and working cattle ranch, with the original farmhouse deteriorated but rehabilitable and other buildings in fair to good condition.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:55:31.335493-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_CA/81000147.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/81000147/44e373eb78-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/81000147/44e373eb78-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"Sanfranman59","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Old_Borges_Ranch_(Walnut_Creek,_CA).JPG\" rel=\"noopener\">Sanfranman59</a>, <a href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY-SA 3.0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Old_Borges_Ranch_(Walnut_Creek,_CA).JPG"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/123858552","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Old_Borges_Ranch","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q7083505"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/california/contra-costa-county/old-borges-ranch-81000147/"}