Built in 1884 (Victorian architecture). Listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1974. 13 historic topographic surveys show this location, the earliest from 1889.
From the record
“The Winchester Mystery House is a mansion in San Jose, California, that was once the personal residence of Sarah Winchester, the widow of firearms magnate William Wirt Winchester. The house became a tourist attraction nine months after her death in 1922.”
Wikipedia article Winchester Mystery House, CC BY-SA 4.0.
One of 117 National Register listings published here for Santa Clara County · listed in 1974 · category: Building · built in 1884, Victorian architecture.
National Register reference number.74000559- 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
1889 to 1978
The ground this property stands on, surveyed
89 years apart. Drag the handle to wipe between them. Both sheets are
United States Geological Survey originals; neither has been altered.
18891978
Fires near this property
170 since 2002
Regional context, not property-specific
evidence. The
federal wildfire occurrence database
lists 170 fires within 5 miles of Winchester House
between 2002 and 2020, burning about 41 acres in total. None started naturally. 22 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/undetermined
97
Arson/incendiarism
22
Smoking
21
Equipment and vehicle use
11
Misuse of fire by a minor
11
Power generation/transmission/distribution
4
Debris and open burning
3
Recreation and ceremony
1
The most recent of
them, most recent first, with the day each was reported and the service
that recorded it.
Date
Cause
Size
Reported by
Name on the report
9 September 2018
Missing data/not specified/undetermined
under an acre
California Department of Forestry & Fire Protection
not named
6 September 2008
Missing data/not specified/undetermined
under an acre
California Department of Forestry & Fire Protection
not named
30 September 2016
Missing data/not specified/undetermined
under an acre
California Department of Forestry & Fire Protection
not named
3 September 2016
Misuse of fire by a minor
under an acre
California Department of Forestry & Fire Protection
not named
28 September 2017
Missing data/not specified/undetermined
under an acre
California Department of Forestry & Fire Protection
not named
25 September 2016
Arson/incendiarism
under an acre
California Department of Forestry & Fire Protection
not named
23 September 2016
Missing data/not specified/undetermined
under an acre
California Department of Forestry & Fire Protection
not named
23 September 2005
Missing data/not specified/undetermined
under an acre
California Department of Forestry & Fire Protection
Regional context, not property-specific
evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists
8 workings within 5 miles of Winchester House: 5 past producers, 3 unknowns.
None of them still produces. What was taken out: Clay, Sand and Gravel, Construction, Stone, Dimension, Granite. Distance is straight-line from the
map coordinates, so a quarry counted here may appear on a neighbouring
settlement's page as well.
Regional context, not property-specific
evidence. The National Weather Service names
San Jose, the town this property stands in, in 33 storm reports between 1997 and 2024: 19 flood, 6 hail, 4 flash flood, 3 lightning.
The reports record 1 injury. 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.
One person was reported possibly trapped inside a car on northbound Highway 280 south of the 87 connector near the Reed Street offramp before 6 a.m. 10/27, according to the CHP and San Jose firefighters. ||Http://www.nbcbayarea.com/news/local/Slow-Down-Accidents-Abound-in-Bay-Area-as-Rain-Pelts-Highways-399016231.html.
Lightning struck two houses in San Jose, setting one on fire https://sanfrancisco.cbslocal.com/2020/08/16/lightning-from-rare-bay-area-thunderstorm-leaves-damage-in-its-wake/. Amount of damage unknown.
Even as the sun began to break through as the rain eased up, drivers discovered flooded roads. One full lane of Senter Road across from San Jose's Kelley Park was impassable. Despite a warning sign, some big rigs and smaller vehicles plowed through the small lake anyway.||Http://abc7news.com/weather/heavy-rain-drenches-south-bay-/1578706/.
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.
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.
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.
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