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Photograph of East Brother Island Light
Photograph by Frank Schulenburg, CC BY-SA 3.0. Via Wikimedia Commons.

East Brother Island Light Station

Built in 1874 (Gothic architecture). Listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1971. 19 historic topographic surveys show this location, the earliest from 1895.

From the record

“East Brother Island Lighthouse is a lighthouse located on East Brother Island in San Rafael Bay, near the tip of Point San Pablo in Richmond, California. It marks the entrance to San Pablo Bay from San Francisco Bay.”

Wikipedia article East Brother Island Light, CC BY-SA 4.0.

One of 49 National Register listings published here for Contra Costa County · listed in 1971 · category: District · built in 1874, Gothic architecture, by Paul J. Pelz.

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

The listing

  • What is counted as historic. The nomination lists 5 structuress, 2 buildingss as contributing to the listing.
  • Address. On East Brother Island W of Point San Pablo, Richmond, 94801
  • When was it listed? February 1971
  • Category. district
  • Census division. West Contra Costa
  • When was it built? 1874
  • Architectural style. Gothic architecture
  • Architect. Paul J. Pelz
  • National Register reference number. 71000138 - 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

1895 to 1995

The ground this property stands on, surveyed 100 years apart. Drag the handle to wipe between them. Both sheets are United States Geological Survey originals; neither has been altered.

Topographic sheet covering East Brother Island Light Station, surveyed 1995
Topographic sheet covering East Brother Island Light Station, surveyed 1895

Fires near this property

200 since 2005

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 200 fires within 5 miles of East Brother Island Light Station between 2005 and 2020, burning about 215 acres in total. None started naturally. 26 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/undetermined138
Arson/incendiarism26
Equipment and vehicle use14
Misuse of fire by a minor11
Smoking9
Recreation and ceremony1
Debris and open burning1

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
9 September 2005Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreCalifornia Department of Forestry & Fire Protectionnot named
6 September 2007Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreCalifornia Department of Forestry & Fire Protectionnot named
5 September 2007Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreCalifornia Department of Forestry & Fire Protectionnot named
4 September 2007Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreCalifornia Department of Forestry & Fire Protectionnot named
3 September 2005Missing data/not specified/undetermined1.0 acresCalifornia Department of Forestry & Fire Protectionnot named
28 September 2020Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreSanta Clara Unitnot named
26 September 2005Missing data/not specified/undetermined1.0 acresCalifornia Department of Forestry & Fire Protectionnot named
25 September 2005Missing data/not specified/undetermined1.0 acresCalifornia Department of Forestry & Fire Protectionnot named

Every fire recorded in Contra Costa County

Mines and quarries near this property

10 of 26 shown

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 26 workings within 5 miles of East Brother Island Light Station: 11 producers, 8 occurrences, 4 past producers, 3 prospects. 11 still produce. What was taken out: Stone, Clay, Stone, Crushed/Broken, Manganese. 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
Blake Brothers San PabloStone, Sand and Gravel, ConstructionOccurrenceSand
San Francisco Bay DredgeLimestone, GeneralProspect
Blake Brothers QuarryStone, Crushed/Broken, Sand and Gravel, ConstructionProducer
GreenbraeSand and Gravel, ConstructionProducer
Red RockManganeseProducerMineral Paint, Psilomelane
Red RockManganeseProducer
Red RockManganeseProspect1914
Greenbrae QuarryStone, Crushed/BrokenOccurrence
Mcnears Quarry & MillStone, Crushed/BrokenProducer
Richfield Oil Co.Stone, Crushed/BrokenProspect

Every working recorded in Contra Costa County

Storms near this property

6 since 1998

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Richmond, the town this property stands in, in 6 storm reports between 1998 and 2025: 5 flood, 1 tornado. No death or injury is recorded in these reports. Each account below is quoted exactly as the forecast office filed it, from the NOAA Storm Events Database, and each date opens the federal record of that event.

WhenEvent Place namedHarm What the report says
December 1998Tornado (F0)Richmond$200,000no account filed
December 2025FloodRichmond-One foot of water was reported on westbound Interstate 580 just east of Canal Boulevard.
November 2025FloodRichmond-The on and offramps from Canal Boulevard to Interstate 580 were flooded.
February 2019FloodRichmond-On ramp from Canal Blvd to I-580 E flooded with 1-1.5 feet of water.
January 2018FloodEast Richmond-WB I80 at Macdonald, lane flooded.
February 2017FloodEast Richmond-One foot of water in Portrero on ramp to I80.

Every storm recorded in Contra Costa County

Maps showing this location

19 surveys

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

Listed places nearby

6 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.

Sources for this property

National Archives recordThe nomination case file for reference 71000138 in Record Group 79.
Wikipedia articleCommunity-written account of this property, licensed CC BY-SA.
Contra Costa CountyAll 49 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.
  • Storms. NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/stormevents/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105. Narratives are quoted verbatim from the National Weather Service report and are not edited or summarised.