{"nrhp_refnum":"91001095","name":"Piedras Blancas Light Station","other_names":[],"category":"district","location":{"address":"CA 1 on Point Piedras Blancas","address_restricted":false,"city":"San Simeon","county":"San Luis Obispo County","state":"CA","lat":35.666327647500054,"lon":-121.284770586137,"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 Highway 1 at the northern entrance to San Simeon Bay, about 13 miles north of Cambria, California. Its tower dates from 1875 and the fog-signal building and oil house from 1906.","why_significant":"The station is significant under Criteria A and C. It reflects California's reliance on coastal shipping and navigation aids, and it holds outstanding examples of late 19th and early 20th century architecture. The tower is described as the most ornately Gothic lighthouse built in California, and the fog-signal building as arguably the most architecturally interesting of its type in the state.","narrative":"Piedras Blancas Light Station sits on a rocky knoll beside Highway 1 at the northern entrance to San Simeon Bay. Its 70-foot white-painted brick tower was built in 1875, and a brick fog-signal building and a concrete oil house followed in 1906. The station was established to aid coastal trade, since no lighthouse then stood on the 145 miles of coast between Point Pinos and Point Conception. The 1868 wreck of the Harlech Castle helped prompt its construction. A storm in 1949 destroyed the tower's lantern room and the original Fresnel lens, which is now displayed in Cambria. Even so, the tower retains elaborate Gothic brick and stone work, massive paneled doors and an interior cast iron stairway. The fog-signal building blends Romanesque Revival and Neo-Classical details, which is unusual for a utilitarian structure. A modern light still operates, and the grounds serve as a wildlife research station. The listed district counts three contributing resources and eight non-contributing ones.","period_of_significance":"1875-1940","architect_builder":"Captain Ashley, builder.","architectural_style":"Victorian Gothic; Neo Classical; Romanesque Revival","criteria":["A","C"],"status_note":"The tower still carries a modern navigation light. The rest of the site is used as a biological research station and for institutional housing. The tower lost its lantern room in a 1949 storm.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:54:27.872487-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_CA/91001095.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/91001095/c3363f75a4-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/91001095/c3363f75a4-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"Whiterocks","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Piedras_Blancas_Public_Tours.jpeg\" rel=\"noopener\">Whiterocks</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:Piedras_Blancas_Public_Tours.jpeg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/123857782","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Piedras_Blancas_Light_Station","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q7191571"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/california/san-luis-obispo-county/piedras-blancas-light-station-91001095/"}