Point Reyes Lifeboat Station: Cultural Landscape Inventory, Point Reyes National Seashore, National Park Service

NPS Pacific West Regional Office; Babalis, Timothy; Stromberg, Gretchen

The Point Reyes Lifeboat Station is a 13‑acre historic district located at Point Reyes National Seashore in California that listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1985 and was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1990. It is located close to the tip of Point Reyes on a steep north‑facing slope, above the protected waters of Drake’s Bay. The 1990 NHL documentation for the Lifeboat Station identifies the period of significance from 1927 to 1939. The period of significance extends from 1927 to 1957. This time frame includes the entire era of development at its existing site. The Point Reyes Lifeboat Station contains structures associated with maritime transportation and early social and humanitarian efforts. The original Point Reyes Lifeboat Station was built along the unprotected shores of the Pacific Ocean northwest of the existing station in 1889 to aid ships stranded or wrecked at sea. The Station was moved in 1927 to the more protected waters of Drake’s Bay. It has stood in its present location since 1927 with some alterations being made to the historic district throughout the period of significance. The major contributing features of the district include the marine railway, boathouse, Officer‑in‑Charge quarters, three‑car garage, one‑car garage, and pumphouse. Additional landscape features include a Monterey cypress windbreak, lawns, footpaths, driveways, roads, water tanks, retaining walls, and fences. Some features such as planting beds, wheelchair accessible ramps, propane tanks, and some of the ornamental vegetation were added after the period of significance ended and therefore do not contribute to the significance of the historic district. Currently, the boathouse and marine railway are maintained and used by the National Park Service. The boathouse was recently restored and the marine railway is currently being restored. Overall, the district is in good condition and exhibits all seven aspects of integrity as defined by the National Register of Historic Places. Those landscape characteristics that contribute to the significance of the district include natural systems and features, spatial organization, topography, views and vistas, vegetation, circulation, buildings and structures, small scale features, and archeological sites. The natural systems and features on site provided an ideal location for a lifeboat station. The protected shores and narrow beach along Drake’s Bay, the clear views of the Pacific and Drake’s Bay from the lookout tower, and the calm waters allowed for easier rescues than at the first Point Reyes life‑saving station site. The remaining contributing buildings and structures display how the site was spatially organized and used during the period of significance. The footpaths, roads, and driveways that date to the 1920s and 1930s development, are relatively unchanged and function as they did when they were first built. And, although less manicured than during the period of significance, vegetation patterns such as rectilinear lawns, hedges, and Monterey cypress windbreaks are still present and contribute to the character and setting of the historic district.

Point Reyes Lifeboat Station: Cultural Landscape Inventory, Point Reyes National Seashore, National Park Service

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