BlockBefore
Photograph of Fort Ross
Photograph by Frank Schulenburg, CC BY-SA 4.0. Via Wikimedia Commons.

Fort Ross

A National Historic Landmark. Built in 1812. Listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1966. 11 historic topographic surveys show this location, the earliest from 1921.

From the record

“Fort Ross is a former Russian establishment on the west coast of North America in what is now Sonoma County, California, United States. It was the first multi-ethnic community north of the Spanish missions in what is now the U.S. state of California.”

Wikipedia article Fort Ross, California, CC BY-SA 4.0.

One of 73 National Register listings published here for Sonoma County · listed in 1966 · category: Building · built in 1812 · a National Historic Landmark.

Sources: the Wikipedia article · the case file at the National Archives · the National Register database, National Park Service · the Wikipedia article

The listing

  • Address. N of Fort Ross on CA 1, Fort Ross, 95450
  • When was it listed? October 1966
  • Category. building
  • Census division. Russian River-Sonoma Coast
  • When was it built? 1812
  • National Register reference number. 66000239 - the number the National Park Service assigned this property when it was listed, and the key its nomination file is catalogued under at the National Archives.

Then and now

1921 to 1998

The ground this property stands on, surveyed 77 years apart. Drag the handle to wipe between them. Both sheets are United States Geological Survey originals; neither has been altered.

Topographic sheet covering Fort Ross, surveyed 1998
Topographic sheet covering Fort Ross, surveyed 1921

Fires near this property

85 since 1992

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 85 fires within 5 miles of Fort Ross between 1992 and 2020, burning about 112 acres in total. 1 started naturally. 2 were recorded as arson. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a fire counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.

Reported cause Fires
Missing data/not specified/undetermined32
Debris and open burning22
Equipment and vehicle use16
Recreation and ceremony5
Power generation/transmission/distribution3
Arson/incendiarism2
Smoking2
Misuse of fire by a minor1
Other causes1
Natural1

The most recent of them, most recent first, with the day each was reported and the service that recorded it.

DateCause SizeReported by Name on the report
8 September 2015Smokingunder an acreSonoma-Lake Napa UnitUMLAND CIR TIMBER_COVE
8 September 1998Recreation and ceremonyunder an acreNorthern California DistrictCAMPFIRE
5 September 2007Missing data/not specified/undetermined1.0 acresNorthern California DistrictUNNAMED FIRE 3652
25 September 2013Missing data/not specified/undetermined2.5 acresSonoma-Lake Napa UnitBOHAN
23 September 1995Debris and open burningunder an acreSonoma-Lake Napa UnitGROLBERT
21 September 2016Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreCalifornia Department of Forestry & Fire ProtectionMEYERS GRADE RD / HWY 1
21 September 2010Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreSonoma-Lake Napa UnitFORT
20 September 2006Equipment and vehicle use11 acresSonoma-Lake Napa UnitSEAVIEW 2

Every fire recorded in Sonoma County

Mines and quarries near this property

7 within 5 miles

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 7 workings within 5 miles of Fort Ross: 4 occurrences, 1 unknown, 1 producer, 1 past producer. 1 still produces. What was taken out: Manganese, Mercury, Calcium, Calcium, Iron, Manganese, Silica. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a quarry counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.

Where SiteCommodity StatusRecorded
Aho MineCalcium, Iron, Manganese, SilicaPast Producer1924
Hooper RanchIronOccurrence
Kohlman GulchCalciumOccurrence
Unnamed ProspectMercuryOccurrence
Aho MineManganeseProducerRhodochrosite
Hayden ProspectManganeseOccurrence
Hayden ProspectManganeseUnknown1926

Every working recorded in Sonoma County

Maps showing this location

11 surveys

United States Geological Survey topographic sheets whose coverage includes this point. Matched by taking the middle of the area the National Park Service maps for this listing, then testing that coordinate against the published boundary of every sheet.

Listed places nearby

2 within 8 miles

Other National Register properties close enough to walk or drive between, ordered by distance from this one. Both positions come from the same geocoding pass that matched these properties to their map sheets.

Photograph PropertyDistance Listed
Fort Ross Commander's Houseunder 500 feet1970
SS POMONA (Shipwreck)0.3 miles2008

Sources for this property

National Archives recordThe nomination case file for reference 66000239 in Record Group 79.
Wikipedia articleCommunity-written account of this property, licensed CC BY-SA.
Sonoma CountyAll 73 listed properties in this county.

Provenance

  • Listing record. National Park Service National Register of Historic Places, listed-properties dataset, current to 2026-05-22.
  • Map join. Address geocoded through the United States Census geocoder, then tested against the published boundary of every sheet in the USGS Historical Topographic Map Collection.
  • How this page is made. Listing fields come from federal records; map-sheet coverage is a labelled coordinate-to-boundary calculation, not a source-field claim.
  • Wildfire. Short, Karen C. 2022. Spatial wildfire occurrence data for the United States, 1992-2020 [FPA_FOD_20221014]. 6th Edition. Fort Collins, CO: Forest Service Research Data Archive. https://doi.org/10.2737/RDS-2013-0009.6 Collected with United States Government funding and usable without additional permissions or fees.
  • Mines and quarries. USGS Mineral Resources Data System (MRDS) https://mrdata.usgs.gov/mrds/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105.