The California State Historical Resources Commission (SHRC) held one of its annual meetings in the Oakland City Hall. On the agenda was a consideration of the Farpoint Site [in Malibu]. The Farpoint Site has yielded evidence of the Clovis Culture, the oldest identifiable culture in the New World. The commissions’ consideration of the site was due to the fact that James Flaherty and myself had previously nominated the Farpoint Site to the National Register of Historic Places.
Dr. Dennis Stanford, head archaeologist at the Smithsonian Institution, has written that the Farpoint Site is unique as it is the only Clovis site found so far along the West Coast, not just of the United States but also of all the Americas.
I was informed prior to the Oakland meeting, that the owner/developer had written a letter to the commission opposing our nomination. The letter is another sad attempt to disregard the highly significant Farpoint Site and the fact that it should be preserved and studied carefully and scientifically for the edification of all Americans.
I spoke at the Oakland meeting advocating the worthiness of the site. The commissioners’ vote was virtually unanimous in favor of recommending that the National Register accept the Farpoint Site.
I was also informed that the opposition of the owner/developer would be sufficient to keep the site off the National Register even when, most probably, the National Register staff will approval the inclusion of the Farpoint Site.
However disappointing that situation will be, I was also informed that the fact that the State’s SHRC commission has deemed the site eligible, that action will give the site a certain degree of formal, professional recognition regardless of the opposition of the owner/developer.
With the SHRC’s approval of our nomination, the Farpoint Site will be included on the State of California’s Register of Historic Places. The state does not have the same policy as the National Register and will not let the owner deprive the citizens of the acknowledgement of such an important site.
Gary Stickel, Ph.D.
Principal Archaeologist
Farpoint Site