{"nrhp_refnum":"90001360","name":"Point Arena Rancheria Roundhouse","other_names":["Manchester Rancheria Roundhouse"],"category":"building","location":{"address":"On the Garcia River at end of Rancheria Rd.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Point Arena","county":"Mendocino County","state":"CA","lat":38.950374185000044,"lon":-123.662603236,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1990-09-13","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Religion"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A one-story wooden dance house (roundhouse) at the end of Rancheria Road on the Point Arena (Manchester) Rancheria in Mendocino County, California, built around 1905 by an unknown builder near the Garcia River.","why_significant":"It is the largest and possibly the only remaining building linking the religious life of Native Americans in the Point Arena area to the turn of the century. Its long entryway and circular chamber follow the traditional Central Pomo form for communal buildings. The cross over the entrance reflects the later blending of Christian, ghost-dance and traditional beliefs.","narrative":"Located at the end of Rancheria Road near the Garcia River, this wooden roundhouse served as a dance house for the Central Pomo people of the Point Arena area. It has two one-story sections covered in vertical boards: a cylindrical assembly room under a conical shingled roof, and an entrance hall with a shallow gable and a simple white cross. There are no windows, and the building appears never to have been painted. Inside, singers and dancers occupied the center of the circular room while visitors sat along the walls. The center post dates from about 1890 and came from an earlier dance house; it was carried to the rancheria when the community was established around 1905. Dance had long been central to Pomo religion, and it was revived in the 1870s with the ghost dance. By the 1890s Pomo belief combined Christian elements with ghost-dance doctrine and tradition. The building is considered the largest and possibly the only surviving tangible link to that religious life.","period_of_significance":"1905-1940","architect_builder":"Unknown","architectural_style":"No Style","criteria":["A"],"status_note":"Listed function is current religious facility, same as its historic use.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:54:27.629683-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_CA/90001360.pdf"},"photo":null,"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/123857674","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Point_Arena_Rancheria_Roundhouse","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q85793796"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/california/mendocino-county/point-arena-rancheria-roundhouse-90001360/"}