For immediate release: 02/08/2022
The California State Historic Resources Commission will review eight properties for action
Contact: Jorge MorenoI Information Officer
The California State Historic Resources Commission (Commission) will consider six nominations for Federal Historic Designation and two nominations for State Historic Designation on Friday, August 5. The Commission meeting will be held at 9 am at the California Natural Resources Agency building in Sacramento and will also be broadcast on CAL-SPAN.
One of the nominations considered by the Commission is NORLINA, the submerged archaeological site of the steel-hulled steamer that struck the jagged shoals south of Horseshoe Point and came to rest at Gerstle Cove near Salt Point in 1926. Another nominated property is the San Francisco Palace of Fine Arts, which was to serve as a temporary facility for the 1915 Panama-Pacific International Exposition. It is the only surviving building from the World Exhibition. The palace quickly became one of California’s finest buildings, despite its lack of function and temporary nature.
Here are some of the properties considered at the meeting:
Appointments to the National Register of Historic Places
Asilomar Conference Grounds Warnecke Historic District
Pacific Grove, Monterey County
The neighborhood, located at the western end of Pacific Grove and overlooking Asilomar State Beach, consists of 22 buildings and associated landscape features designed by John Carl Warnecke & Associates after the State of California acquired the property in 1956. Originally a Young Women’s Christian Association (YWCA) designed by Julia Morgan, Asilomar’s initial stage of development was between 1913 and 1928. The historic Asilomar Conference Grounds has been designated a landmark National Historic Landmark in 1987 for its association with the history of the YWCA and as a significant work of a master architect. Warnecke created a master plan to expand the original site and make it more accessible to automobiles, blending in with both the natural surroundings and the older buildings of Asilomar. The resulting distinct architectural context and period of significance from 1957 to 1968 allows for a new stand-alone nomination rather than amending the previous nomination with additional documentation.
NORLINA (shipwreck and remains)
Jenner (vicinity), Sonoma County
The submerged archaeological site is that of the steel-hulled steamer NORLINA (1908-1926). NORLINA – also known historically as HARFLEUR, GEORGIANA and USS NORLINA – was built in 1908 in West Hartlepool, England at the William Gray and Company shipyard as HARFLEUR. Between 1909 and 1926, the ship served as a steam freighter under multiple owners and nationalities, including service in World War I under charter to the United States government. In August 1926, while traveling from San Francisco to Puget Sound with the Garland Steamship Corporation, the NORLINA struck the jagged shoals south of Horseshoe Point and came to rest at Gerstle Cove near Salt Point. The steamer was a total loss and heavily salvaged before breaking up and sinking.
California Historic Landmark Nomination
Palace of Fine Arts
San Francisco, San Francisco County
The building and four structures in a park in the marina district were originally designed in 1913 for the Panama-Pacific International Exposition. The palace was designed by architect Bernard Maybeck as a forgotten, overgrown Roman ruin and intended as a temporary settlement, and the citizens of San Francisco engaged in heroic efforts to preserve the property, the only building survivor of the 1915 Exposition. The palace quickly became one of California’s finest buildings, despite its lack of function and temporary nature. A long-term project, planned in the 1950s and begun in the 1960s, rebuilt the Palace into its current permanent form, a project completed in 1974.
The National Register of Historic Places is part of a national program that coordinates and supports public and private efforts to identify, assess, and protect America’s historic and archaeological resources. The California Register of Historical Resources is a program designed by the Commission in 1992 for use by state and local government agencies, private groups, and citizens to identify, assess, record, and protect California’s historic resources. California Historic Landmarks are sites, buildings, features, or events that have statewide significance and are of anthropological, cultural, military, political, architectural, economic, scientific, technical, religious value or experimental. California Historic Points of Interest are sites, buildings, features, or events that have local (city or county) significance and are of anthropological, cultural, military, political, architectural, economic, scientific, technical, religious or experimental.
Placement on the National Register can help bring positive attention to a historic place and affords a property the honor of being included on the National List of Cultural Resources Worthy of Preservation. This may provide some degree of protection against adverse effects resulting from federally funded or authorized projects. Registration also offers several incentives for preserving historic properties, including special building codes to facilitate the restoration of historic structures and certain tax advantages.
All applications and photographs of the properties under consideration at this Friday’s meeting are available on line.
This Commission meeting will take place in person and via video and teleconference on Friday, August 5 at 9:00 a.m. The Commissioners will meet in person and the meeting is open to the public in the auditorium of the Natural Resources Agency Building located at 715 P St., Sacrament. The public can also view the meeting via CAL-SPAN or participate in the meeting by registering through the Zoom link posted on the Schedule and Notice of Meetings of the State Historic Resources Commission page of the Office of Historic Preservation website at ohp.parks.ca.gov/SHRCnotices.
Those wishing to watch the meeting but not provide commentary do not need to register and can watch a live webcast, with archived video provided after the meeting, at www.cal-span.org.
Notices and agendas of Commission meetings are available online 10 days before a meeting on ohp.parks.ca.gov. The public may present oral statements at the hearing at the appropriate time. Inquiries and written comments on the agenda may also be emailed to the Office of Historic Preservation at [email protected] or submitted by mail to Julianne Polanco, Historic Preservation Officer of State, at the Office of Historic Preservation, PO Box 942896, Sacramento, CA 94296-0001.
General inquiries about the Commission should be directed to (916) 445-7000 or [email protected].
Top: NORLINA at Gerstle Cove near Salt Point. Photo by US Naval History and Heritage Command. Bottom left: San Francisco Palace of Fine Arts. Photo by Hans Baldauf. Bottom right: Asilomar Conference Grounds Warnecke Historic District. Photo by Stephen Schaefer.
Subscribe to California State Parks News via email at [email protected]
California State Parks provides health, inspiration and education to the people of California by helping to preserve the state’s extraordinary biological diversity, protecting its most precious natural and cultural resources and creating recreational opportunities for high quality outdoors.
