More than 25 years ago, the State of California declared that the Guest House Museum in Downtown Fort Bragg was a point of historical interest.

It was built mostly from coastal redwood in 1892 for Tom Johnson, a family business partner in Fort Bragg Redwood Company, as his private residence. All wood used in the structure was milled by Fort Bragg Redwood Company. Before the house was finished and by direction of the company's founder, Charles Russell Johnson, it became the lumber company's home for senior officials and VIP guest visitors to the Fort Bragg mill and logging sites. Fort Bragg Redwood Company became Union Lumber Company in 1905 and the Guest House continued in its role until ULCo sold to Boise-Cascade Corporation, and later still to Georgia-Pacific Corp. G-P donated the home to the City of Fort Bragg on closing their Fort Bragg plant in the 1990s.

Fort Bragg is home to many architectural 'treasures,' ranging from simple to sophisticated in design which reveal the history of the town and the definitive role of the lumber industry. Many sites have not yet received designations on the state or national registries, but are here to be discovered. View this video to learn about what you will see as you explore the town:

"The Architectural Treasures of Fort Bragg"

A talk by Marriane Hurley, Field Architectural Historian
Filmed at Fort Bragg Library, Sponsored by Friends of the Library October 11,2009
Produced by Mendocino Coast Television

Some Notable Architectural Sites:

• Guest House Museum
• Grey Whale Inn (Former Fort Bragg Hospital to 1915)
• Weller House Inn
• Depot Building
• Commissary of the original Fort (relocated to 430 N. Franklin Street)
• Union Lumber Company Department Store
• Eagles Hall
• Cotton Auditorium
• Trinity Lutheran Church
• Layout of residential neighborhoods: housing lots arranged around alleys
• Downtown storefronts