{"nrhp_refnum":"91001100","name":"Point Reyes Light Station","other_names":["Point Reyes Lighthouse"],"category":"district","location":{"address":"Point Reyes National Seashore","address_restricted":false,"city":"Point Reyes","county":"Marin County","state":"CA","lat":37.99876146750006,"lon":-123.0168522980328,"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 federally owned lighthouse station district at the tip of Point Reyes headland in Point Reyes National Seashore, Marin County, California. The lighthouse tower dates from 1870, and the district includes nine contributing and six noncontributing resources.","why_significant":"The station is argued to be significant under Criteria A and C as part of California's maritime transportation history and its navigational aids. It retains an intact 1870 iron lighthouse tower with its original 1st order Fresnel lens and a cluster of well-preserved historic buildings. The difficult construction of the station on a windy, foggy headland is also noted.","narrative":"Point Reyes Light Station occupies the far tip of a headland that juts into the Pacific in Marin County, California. The lighthouse sits on a rocky shelf about 240 feet above the sea, and most other buildings are on the hilltop 300 feet above, reached by a long concrete stairway. The 1870 sixteen-sided iron tower still holds its original 1st order Fresnel lens, made in Paris in 1867. Congress authorized a light here in 1854, but disputes with landowners delayed construction until 1870, and seven major shipwrecks occurred in the interim. Building the station meant hauling materials over steep hills and carving terraces from solid rock. The site is among the windiest and foggiest on the Pacific coast. Historic buildings include a 1928 power house, a 1934 transformer building, storage sheds, cisterns and watersheds. Its integrity, intact tower and lens, and role in California's maritime transportation led to its listing for Criteria A and C.","period_of_significance":"1870-1940","architect_builder":"Marston, Phineas F.","architectural_style":"Other: lighthouse","criteria":["A","C"],"status_note":"The lighthouse tower is in very good condition, and the lens is lit for demonstration tours at least once a month. The Coast Guard maintains automated navigational aids, and a former building houses the visitor center.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:54:28.056657-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_CA/91001100.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/91001100/e9fc22e50e-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/91001100/e9fc22e50e-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 4.0","author":"Frank Schulenburg","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Point_Reyes_Lighthouse_in_December_2019.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Frank Schulenburg</a>, <a href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY-SA 4.0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Point_Reyes_Lighthouse_in_December_2019.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/123857643","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Point_Reyes_Lighthouse","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q779685"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/california/marin-county/point-reyes-light-station-91001100/"}