{"nrhp_refnum":"91000562","name":"J Street Wreck","other_names":[],"category":"site","location":{"address":"At the foot of J St., in the Sacramento R.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Sacramento","county":"Sacramento County","state":"CA","lat":38.58366545700005,"lon":-121.50625419599999,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1991-05-16","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Commerce","Historic - Non-Aboriginal","Transportation","Maritime History"],"significance_levels":["national"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A shipwreck site under about 30 feet of water in the Sacramento River at the foot of J Street, Sacramento, California, that may be the remains of the brig Sterling, built in Massachusetts in 1833. A second, later wreck lies on top of it.","why_significant":"The nomination argues national significance through the wreck's link to the California Gold Rush, when the vessel served as a Sacramento storeship. About 60% of the hull is said to survive, making it a good example of early 19th century coastal sailing craft design. Its hull and interior deposits could yield information on shipbuilding and on goods reaching the gold fields.","narrative":"Beneath about 30 feet of water at the foot of J Street in Sacramento lies a wooden shipwreck that may be the brig Sterling, built in Duxbury, Massachusetts, in 1833. The copper-sheathed vessel, roughly 88 feet long, worked the coastal trade between Boston and Philadelphia before sailing around Cape Horn to San Francisco in 1849, the first vessel to leave Beverly for the gold fields. She then moved up the Sacramento River and was converted to a floating warehouse, one of about thirty storeships moored off the city. After sinking in 1855, she was partly broken up by contractors hired by the city, and the remains were later covered by rip-rap placed in 1914. About 44 feet of the hull is visible, with a stem, chainplates, hawse pipes and a mast stub. A second, burned river craft lies on top and is not counted as significant. Researchers see potential to study early shipbuilding methods and Gold Rush cargo.","period_of_significance":"1849-1855","architect_builder":"Samuel A. Frazar of Duxbury, Massachusetts (builder of the brig Sterling, 1833)","architectural_style":null,"criteria":["A","C","D"],"status_note":"Wreck lies submerged and partly buried under rip-rap; function listed as vacant, not in use. Identity as Sterling is not conclusively established.","vacant_flag":true,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:54:28.34774-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_CA/91000562.pdf"},"photo":null,"district":{"nrhp_refnum":"66000219","name":"Old Sacramento Historic District","url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/districts/california/old-sacramento-historic-district-66000219/"},"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/123860615","wikipedia":null,"wikidata":null},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/california/sacramento-county/j-street-wreck-91000562/"}