{"nrhp_refnum":"91001094","name":"Point Montara Light Station","other_names":[],"category":"district","location":{"address":"Jct. of 16th St. and CA 1","address_restricted":false,"city":"Montara","county":"San Mateo County","state":"CA","lat":37.536842095000054,"lon":-122.51908070599995,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1991-09-03","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Commerce","Transportation","Architecture","Maritime History"],"significance_levels":["state"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A light station on a rocky bluff at Point Montara, Montara, San Mateo County, California, with a fog-signal building, keeper's quarters and coal shed from 1875-1902 and a bolted steel light tower from 1928. It covers about 7.27 acres.","why_significant":"The station is tied to California's reliance on maritime transportation and the aids that made navigation possible along a dangerous stretch of coast on the sea road to San Francisco. It also preserves a cohesive group of original buildings typical of late 19th and early 20th century light stations. Its 1928 tower is the only bolted, metal-sided lighthouse in California.","narrative":"Point Montara Light Station sits on a rocky bluff about 70 feet above the Pacific at Montara, San Mateo County, now surrounded by suburban homes. It began in 1875 as a fog-signal station, after wrecks such as the steamer Colorado in 1868 and the ship Acuelo in 1872 showed the danger of the reef-strewn coast. A small beacon was added around 1900, and the current conical tower was built in 1928. Its steel shaft is bolted together in prefabricated panels, which makes it the only lighthouse of that type in California. The 1902 fog-signal building, the 1875 two-story Victorian Gothic keeper's quarters and the 1902 coal shed remain grouped near the point's edge. The station was listed for its link to California maritime transportation and for its well-preserved example of a late 19th and early 20th century light station. Its period of significance runs from 1875 to 1940.","period_of_significance":"1875-1940","architect_builder":"U.S. Lighthouse Service, 12th District","architectural_style":"Gothic (Victorian Gothic keeper's quarters); light station complex","criteria":["A","C"],"status_note":"Contributing buildings are in good to excellent condition. The tower has an automated beacon, the fog-signal equipment has been removed, and the keeper's quarters is still used as a duplex.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:54:26.826505-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_CA/91001094.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/91001094/de0464fded-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/91001094/de0464fded-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"Frank Schulenburg","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Point_Montara_Light_(2013).jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Frank Schulenburg</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:Point_Montara_Light_(2013).jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/123857790","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Point_Montara_Light","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q12066066"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/california/san-mateo-county/point-montara-light-station-91001094/"}