Built in 1889. Listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1991. 11 historic topographic surveys show this location, the earliest from 1918.
From the record
“Point Sur Lighthouse is a lightstation at Point Sur 24.6 miles (39.6 km) south of Monterey, California at the peak of the 361-foot (110 m) rock at the head of the point. It was established in 1889 and is part of Point Sur State Historic Park.”
Wikipedia article Point Sur Lighthouse, CC BY-SA 4.0.
One of 64 National Register listings published here for Monterey County · listed in 1991 · category: District · built in 1889.
National Register reference number.91001097- 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
1918 to 1948
The ground this property stands on, surveyed
30 years apart. Drag the handle to wipe between them. Both sheets are
United States Geological Survey originals; neither has been altered.
19181948
Fires near this property
30 since 1992
Regional context, not property-specific
evidence. The
federal wildfire occurrence database
lists 30 fires within 5 miles of Point Sur Light Station
between 1992 and 2019, burning about 202 acres in total. None started naturally. 1 was 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
Equipment and vehicle use
12
Missing data/not specified/undetermined
10
Power generation/transmission/distribution
3
Recreation and ceremony
2
Misuse of fire by a minor
1
Arson/incendiarism
1
Firearms and explosives use
1
The most recent of
them, most recent first, with the day each was reported and the service
that recorded it.
Regional context, not property-specific
evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists
6 workings within 5 miles of Point Sur Light Station: 3 past producers, 2 producers, 1 occurrence.
2 still produce. What was taken out: Limestone, General, Sand and Gravel, Construction, Stone, Stone, Crushed/Broken. 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
Big Sur, the town this property stands in, in 7 storm reports between 1996 and 2025: 2 wildfire, 2 thunderstorm wind, 1 heavy rain, 1 flash flood.
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.
Heavy rain fell on top of a recently burned forest causing flash flooding and debris flows. More than three feet of mud covered State Route One closing it for several hours. Vehicles parked at the Big Sur Lodge were stuck in mud and debris. One vehicle was even forced into a culvert and buried. At least three separate debris flows were reported along Highway One, all within a 3 mile span.
Heavy rain on saturated soil triggered a rock slide/debris flow onto SR 1 near Captain Cooper Elementary School in Big Sur. Highway 1 was at least partially blocked.
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.
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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