The Hubert H. Bancroft Ranch House is a
historic house museum
A historic house museum is a house of historic significance that has been transformed into a museum. Historic furnishings may be displayed in a way that reflects their original placement and usage in a home. Historic house museums are held to a v ...
at 9050 Memory Lane in
Spring Valley, California. Built in 1856, it is the oldest Anglo-American building in the town. From 1885 until his death in 1918, it was home to
Hubert Howe Bancroft
Hubert Howe Bancroft (May 5, 1832 – March 2, 1918) was an American historian and ethnologist who wrote, published and collected works concerning the western United States, Texas, California, Alaska, Mexico, Central America and British ...
, a pioneering historian of the western United States,
Mexico
Mexico ( Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guate ...
, and
Central America
Central America ( es, América Central or ) is a subregion of the Americas. Its boundaries are defined as bordering the United States to the north, Colombia to the south, the Caribbean Sea to the east, and the Pacific Ocean to the west. ...
. Now managed by the local historical society as a museum, it was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1962 for its association with Bancroft,
and was registered as a California Historical Landmark in 1958.
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]
Description and history
The Bancroft Ranch House is located in western Spring Valley, just northwest of Bancroft County Park. It is accessed via Memory Lane, a short lane off Bancroft Drive. The house is a single-story adobe structure, to which a frame addition has been made. Each of these sections is covered by a gabled roof with wooden shingles. The roof of the adobe section extends over an open veranda area, where it is supported by square posts. The oldest portion of the adobe has embedded in it curved timbers, which were salvaged from the ''Clarissa Andrews'', a coal freighter and packet ship wrecked in San Diego Bay.[ With ] The property also contains a natural spring, named ''El aguaje de San Jorge'' (St. George's Spring) by the Spanish, after which the community of Spring Valley is named.
The house was built in 1856 by Augustus Ensworth. Upon Enworth's death, the property was sold in 1865 to Rufus King Porter, son of the founder of ''Scientific American''. Porter added a kitchen, a dining room, and two bedrooms. He later sold the property to historian Hubert Howe Bancroft
Hubert Howe Bancroft (May 5, 1832 – March 2, 1918) was an American historian and ethnologist who wrote, published and collected works concerning the western United States, Texas, California, Alaska, Mexico, Central America and British ...
in 1885. Bancroft expanded the property, eventually owning more than , which he operated as a gentleman's farm. After Bancroft's death in 1918, his heirs divided the estate. The portion including the house was acquired in 1940 by the Spring Valley Chamber of Commerce. The house was rehabilitated in 1962, and was opened as a museum the following year.
See also
*List of National Historic Landmarks in California
*National Register of Historic Places listings in San Diego County, California
References
External links
Bancroft Ranch House Museum
- San Diego History Center
*
{{National Register of Historic Places
History of San Diego County, California
National Register of Historic Places in San Diego County, California
National Historic Landmarks in California
Historic American Buildings Survey in California
Houses in San Diego County, California
Museums in San Diego County, California
Historic house museums in California