Listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1986. 15 historic topographic surveys show this location, the earliest from 1901.
From the record
“Forster House in San Juan Capistrano, California is a 6,000-square-foot (560 m2) stucco, Spanish tile roofed mansion built in 1910 for $10,000 by Frank Ambrosio Foster, grandson of rancher John Forster. It is the only remaining home of its style and era in the area.”
Wikipedia article Frank A. Forster House, CC BY-SA 4.0.
One of 136 National Register listings published here for Orange County · listed in 1986 · category: Building.
National Register reference number.86002405- 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
1901 to 1983
The ground this property stands on, surveyed
82 years apart. Drag the handle to wipe between them. Both sheets are
United States Geological Survey originals; neither has been altered.
19011983
Fires near this property
84 since 1994
Regional context, not property-specific
evidence. The
federal wildfire occurrence database
lists 84 fires within 5 miles of Frank A. Forster House
between 1994 and 2018, burning about 638 acres in total. 1 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
Arson/incendiarism
26
Missing data/not specified/undetermined
24
Smoking
14
Equipment and vehicle use
10
Misuse of fire by a minor
5
Recreation and ceremony
2
Debris and open burning
1
Natural
1
Power generation/transmission/distribution
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
7 September 2007
Arson/incendiarism
1.0 acres
California Department of Forestry & Fire Protection
not named
6 September 2016
Missing data/not specified/undetermined
98 acres
California Department of Forestry & Fire Protection
not named
5 September 2010
Smoking
under an acre
California Department of Forestry & Fire Protection
not named
22 September 2010
Recreation and ceremony
under an acre
California Department of Forestry & Fire Protection
not named
13 September 2005
Power generation/transmission/distribution
under an acre
California Department of Forestry & Fire Protection
not named
7 August 2012
Missing data/not specified/undetermined
under an acre
Orange County Fire Authority
not named
5 August 2009
Equipment and vehicle use
under an acre
California Department of Forestry & Fire Protection
Regional context, not property-specific
evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists
12 workings within 5 miles of Frank A. Forster House: 8 producers, 4 past producers.
8 still produce. What was taken out: Sand and Gravel, Construction, Limestone, General, Silica, Clay. 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 Juan Capistrano, the town this property stands in, in 3 storm reports between 2002 and 2025: 1 flood, 1 heavy rain, 1 thunderstorm wind.
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.
Corrects previous tstm wnd dmg report from 1 W San Juan Capistrano. Report photos show umbrellas blown from second floor of home to ground, including a bent flag pole hinge from wind.
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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