About Us
The Northwest Information Center of the California Historical Resources Information System is one of eight information centers affiliated with the State of California Office of Historic Preservation in Sacramento.
Our office is located at 1400 Valley House Dr., Suite 210, Rohnert Park, CA 94928.
We are open for in-house research, by appointment only, Tuesdays through Thursdays, 9:00 am - 5:00 pm. Please see our In-Person Access page for more information.
Contact information for all information centers may be found on the OHP website.
These information centers are non-profit organizations located at various universities, museums, and tribal organizations throughout the state of California. Each center serves a specific geographic area within the state. The NWIC service area includes 18 coastal, Bay Area, and inland counties, from the California-Oregon border in the north to Monterey in the south. This area comprises over 15% of the State of California.
The purpose of the center is:
- to manage cultural resources records, reports, and maps.
- to supply cultural resources information to the private and public sector (some restrictions do apply.)
- to provide educational support and information about cultural resources in California to the general public.
Services Offered
NWIC staff regularly assist Cultural Resources Consultants undertaking research in history and archaeology as well as providing information to landowners, scholars, and the general public about archaeology, history, architecture, and cultural resources legislation.
Research and information is provided to more than 100 federal, state, or local government agencies, as well as over 1,000 private cultural resource consultants, environmental, planning, engineering, and development firms. Approximately 2,000 requests for information are fulfilled each year.
Inventory access, products, and services are provided on a fee-for-service basis.
See our Applicable Fees page for Inventory Access fees.
See the Rules of Operation Manual (PDF) for additional information about California Historical Resources Information System policies and services.
Announcements
NWIC will be closed 12/25 - 1/1/25 in observance of Winter Break in accordance with Sonoma State University’s Holiday Schedule. We will reopen as normal on Thursday, January 2.
All in-person client services are at our location off-campus, at 1400 Valley House Dr., Suite 210, Rohnert Park, CA 94928. Go to our In-Person Access page to review the changes.
The new CHRIS Data Request Form (PDF) is available! For more information, see our Record Searches page.
Right before the shutdown in 2020, OHP released an update to the Decemebr 2019 BERD, which replaced the 2012 Historic Properties Directory. For more information, check out the OHP Directories page.
The NWIC uses Google Drive to send record search results and receive inventory materials. New accounts are set up in Drive. For info on establishing a Drive folder with us, please read our welcome document (PDF). If you are having trouble downloading or uploading data from Drive, please read our tutorial (PDF).