#637 - Catalina Adobe
DATE:
November 18, 2015
LOCATION:
Glendale
THE PLAQUE:
Four of them! I'm not sure which is technically the official one.
San Rafel Ranch Jose Maria Verdugo granted land use by Gov. Pedro Fages, 1784 Deed recorded, 1799 State Historic Landmark No. 637 National Register of Historical Places - 1776
Oak of Peace Site of pre-surrender conference between the Mexican settlers and a representative of the invading American forces on January 11, 1847. Jesus Pico, acting as an emissary from Lt. Col. Fremont, met under the oak with General Andres Pico and Governor Flores of the Californios to urge the signing of the treaty.
San Rafael Rancho First granted to José Maria Verdugo, Oct. 20, 1784 Catalina Adobe built about 1828 and General Andres Pico oak tree camp site before he surrendered to John C. Fremont 1847 Marked by California Parlor No. 247 Native Daughters of the Golden West Sept. 28, 1947
637 Catalina (Verdugo) Adobe San Rafael Rancho of Jose Maria Verdugo Built about 1828 Placed by Don Jose Verdugo Chapter Daughters of the American Revolution 1958
MY JOURNEY:
Where it all began. The first one! Located in a tiny park in Glendale smack dab in the middle of a suburban neighborhood. This was my first introduction to historic California. And a great one to start. It's not just the site of one of countless adobes I'd see throughout my travels, but it's where Mexico verbally agreed to surrender to the U.S. government.
A nice little park that was completely empty on a Wednesday afternoon. I had no idea what I would find. Several plaques, the remaining roots of the famous tree, a tiny bridge, a signal bell that I really wanted to ring but was wired so that I couldn't signal a damn thing, and an adobe with an example of an adobe.
LEARN ABOUT IT:
While the adobe itself is the State Landmark, there's an interesting history to the land that it's on.
Rancho San Rafael was a 36,403-acre Spanish land grant given in 1784 to Jose Maria Verdugo. That's 8 square leagues, which was a standard Spanish unit of measurement at the time. To put the size of this in perspective to Angelenos - it's the entirety of Atwater Village, Cypress Park, Eagle Rock, Glassell Park, Highland Park, Mount Washington, Burbank, Glendale, La Cañada Flintridge, Montrose, and Verdugo City.
Over the years, the land was traded, subdivided and eventually divided into 31 sections given to 28 people. Among those people are people who founded neighborhoods which I had no idea where named after specific people - particularly Alfred Chapman and Andrew Glassell (Glassell Park) and David Burbank (Burbank). David Burbank sounds like the interim name in a bad screenplay jotted down while in the Burbank Starbucks. Yet this dude is a real dude.
This particular plot of land houses a city park, the Landmark adobe and the Oak of Peace (one of many historical trees across L.A. - and the state).
The adobe was built around 1828 and named after Verdugo's daughter Catalina.
The Oak of Peace is considered by many to be the birthplace of California, so clearly I'm in the right starting spot.
I'm also starting to lots of familiar names of L.A. streets that are rightfully named after famous people in L.A.'s history. Pico, Verdugo...
SOUVENIRS:
Not here. In fact, at this point I hadn't even really thought about finding souvenirs for these sites. I should probably go back to each one individually and check on eBay if there's anything. Update: there are postcards.
WOULD YOU LIKE TO KNOW MORE?
