Rancho Petaluma Adobe is a historic ranch house in Sonoma County, California. It was built from
adobe
Adobe ( ; ) is a building material made from earth and organic materials. is Spanish for ''mudbrick''. In some English-speaking regions of Spanish heritage, such as the Southwestern United States, the term is used to refer to any kind of e ...
bricks in 1836 by order of
Mariano Guadalupe Vallejo. It was the largest privately owned adobe structure built in California and is the largest example of the
Monterey Colonial
Monterey Colonial is an architectural style developed in Alta California (today's US state of California when under Mexican rule). Although usually categorized as a sub-style of Spanish Colonial style, the Monterey style is native to the post-col ...
style of architecture in the United States.
A section of the former ranch has been preserved by the Petaluma Adobe State Historic Park and it is both a
California Historic Landmark
A California Historical Landmark (CHL) is a building, structure, site, or place in California that has been determined to have statewide historical landmark significance.
Criteria
Historical significance is determined by meeting at least one of ...
and a
National Historic Landmark
A National Historic Landmark (NHL) is a building, district, object, site, or structure that is officially recognized by the United States government for its outstanding historical significance. Only some 2,500 (~3%) of over 90,000 places listed ...
. The Rancho Petaluma Adobe State Historic Park is located on Adobe Road on the east side of the present-day town of
Petaluma, California.
Description
The Adobe was designed to function both as a headquarters of a working ranch and as a defensive structure against attack by the
Russians
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then living on the California coast or by the borderland's native tribes. It consisted of two, two-story buildings surrounding an open courtyard of roughly . It was built using adobe bricks and hand-hewn redwood timbers and planks. The building had planked floors and a low-sloped shingled roof. The wide, covered second-story veranda encased and protected the adobe walls from the weather and provided advantageous firing positions in case of an attack. There were large gates located between the buildings on the south and north sides of the quadrangle.
The southwest section of the building contained the Vallejo family living area, for when they visited the ranch. Some walls were plastered and whitewashed. The outdoor kitchen and the dining room (featuring imported glass windows) were on the ground floor. The second floor of the "fort" (as it was called by Vallejo) housed the family's sleeping rooms, Vallejo's office, the sleeping room for the ranch manager, guest rooms, and communal sleeping areas for the most privileged workers. The downstairs dining room and the rooms of the family and manager had interior fireplaces.
Construction of the eastern building was never fully completed. The walls were built but neither floors nor a roof were completed. That building no longer exists, so what remains of the Petaluma Adobe is only half its former size.
History
Mexican-American era
In 1834, California Governor
José Figueroa
José Figueroa (1792 – 29 September 1835), was a General and the Mexican Governor of Alta California from 1833 to 1835. He wrote the first book to be published in California.
Background and governorship
Figueroa was a Mestizo of Spanish a ...
ordered Lieutenant (''Teniente'') Vallejo and his soldiers from the
Presidio of San Francisco
The Presidio of San Francisco (originally, El Presidio Real de San Francisco or The Royal Fortress of Saint Francis) is a park and former U.S. Army post on the northern tip of the San Francisco Peninsula in San Francisco, California, and is part o ...
to move north of the Bay. He granted Vallejo the initial lands of
Rancho Petaluma :''This article refers to the land grant. For the Rancho Petaluma Adobe, see Rancho Petaluma Adobe''
Rancho Petaluma was a Mexican land grant in present-day Sonoma County, California given in 1834 by Governor José Figueroa to Mariano Guadalup ...
. During 1836 Vallejo began construction of the ranch house, eventually investing an estimated $80,000 in labor and materials. The planned structure was never fully completed. His younger brother
Salvador Vallejo directed most of the construction. Between 1836 and 1839, at least 2,000
Native Americans were employed at the ranch to make bricks, haul lumber, build buildings, cook, farm, make tools, tan hides and tend the large herd of cattle.
Vallejo's family sometimes used the Petaluma Adobe as a summer home and for entertaining guests. They lived in the neighboring town of
Sonoma. Vallejo's Sonoma home, known as ''
Lachryma Montis
The Vallejo Estate is a historic house in Sonoma, California, one of the six sites that comprises the Sonoma State Historic Park. The estate was owned by General Mariano Guadalupe Vallejo, a ''Californio'' military leader and landowner. Vallejo ...
'', is now part of
Sonoma State Historic Park
Sonoma State Historic Park is a California State Park located in the center of Sonoma, California. The park consists of six sites: the Mission San Francisco Solano, the Sonoma Barracks (sometimes called the Presidio of Sonoma), the Blue Wing I ...
.
Vallejo left daily management to his ''
mayordomo
Mayordomo or Chocolate Mayordomo is a brand of Mexican (English: "table chocolate") produced by the company Chocolate Mayordomo De Oaxaca, S. De R.L. De C.V., and based in Oaxaca, Oaxaca, Oaxaca, Oaxaca, Mexico. The company manufactures Mole (s ...
'' (foreman), Miguel Alvarado, who resided at the ranch. In its operational days between 1836 and 1857, the Rancho Petaluma employed up to 2,000
Native Americans. The ''
rancho
Rancho or Ranchos may refer to:
Settlements and communities
*Rancho, Aruba, former fishing village and neighbourhood of Oranjestad
*Ranchos of California, 19th century land grants in Alta California
**List of California Ranchos
*Ranchos, Buenos Ai ...
'' became one of the largest ranches north of the
San Francisco Bay
San Francisco Bay is a large tidal estuary in the U.S. state of California, and gives its name to the San Francisco Bay Area. It is dominated by the big cities of San Francisco, San Jose, and Oakland.
San Francisco Bay drains water from a ...
and a social-economic center of Northern California.
![AdobeMajordomoEdit2804](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/ad/AdobeMajordomoEdit2804.jpg)
The ranch also included a tannery, smithy, and a
grist mill
A gristmill (also: grist mill, corn mill, flour mill, feed mill or feedmill) grinds cereal grain into flour and Wheat middlings, middlings. The term can refer to either the Mill (grinding), grinding mechanism or the building that holds it. Grist i ...
powered by Adobe Creek. It had over 12,000 head of cattle with about one quarter slaughtered each year. The cattle provided the ranch's main products -
hides and
tallow
Tallow is a rendering (industrial), rendered form of beef or mutton fat, primarily made up of triglycerides.
In industry, tallow is not strictly defined as beef or mutton fat. In this context, tallow is animal fat that conforms to certain techn ...
which were sent via river boats on the
Petaluma River
The Petaluma River is a river in the California counties of Sonoma and Marin that becomes a tidal slough for most of its length. The headwaters are in the area southwest of Cotati. The flow is generally southward through Petaluma's old town, ...
to the
San Francisco Bay
San Francisco Bay is a large tidal estuary in the U.S. state of California, and gives its name to the San Francisco Bay Area. It is dominated by the big cities of San Francisco, San Jose, and Oakland.
San Francisco Bay drains water from a ...
. The hides and tallow was the ranch's main income source while much of the meat was wasted. Vallejo made an estimated $18,000 to $24,000 yearly on hides and tallow ($ to $ in dollars). The ranch also had herds of up to 3,000 sheep that were used primarily for wool. Products such as candles, soap, thousands of wool blankets, boots and shoes for military troops under Vallejo's command, and saddles were manufactured by native artisans in ranch shops.
In 1843, Mexican Governor
Manuel Micheltorena
Joseph Manuel María Joaquin Micheltorena y Llano (8 June 1804 – 7 September 1853) was a brigadier general of the Mexican Army, adjutant-general of the same, governor, commandant-general and inspector of the department of Las Californias, then ...
granted Vallejo the
Rancho Suscol. The new grant extended the lands of Rancho Petaluma south down to the
San Francisco Bay
San Francisco Bay is a large tidal estuary in the U.S. state of California, and gives its name to the San Francisco Bay Area. It is dominated by the big cities of San Francisco, San Jose, and Oakland.
San Francisco Bay drains water from a ...
, and southeast past the present-day city of
Vallejo. The U.S. Supreme Court rejected Vallejo's land claim for
Rancho Suscol in 1862.
Native American workers
Low-cost and plentiful labor was the key to financial success for Rancho Petaluma. Native American workers were generally paid with food, clothing and other goods.
The most valuable Indian workers were the mission-trained ex-neophytes. Vallejo was particularly successful at attracting these workers from the secularized missions at Sonoma and San Rafael. They had the necessary skills and trades required for running the Rancho and its workshops and manufacturing. They constituted most of the year-around workforce. The most privileged workers were housed in rooms on the second floor of the Adobe. There was a historic-era Indian
ranchería
The Spanish word ranchería, or rancherío, refers to a small, rural settlement. In the Americas the term was applied to native villages or bunkhouses. Anglo-Americans adopted the term with both these meanings, usually to designate the resident ...
along the east side of Adobe Creek where the other year-around workers lived in tule reed huts.
Other unskilled Indians, who the
Californios called gentiles, worked on a seasonal basis for the grain harvest, the cattle slaughter (''la matanza'') or things such as adobe brick making. Some of these individuals or families may have attached themselves to the Rancho voluntarily for a period of time. They may also have been sent to the Rancho by one of Vallejo's allies such as
Chief Marin or
Chief Solano. Rancho Petaluma also had some Native Americans who were not working voluntarily. They may have been captured by the military and were being punished for stealing or raids.
Decline of 1846–1910
![General Vallejo bust](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/5b/General_Vallejo_bust.jpg)
The fate of the ranch turned in 1846–48 when the
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
and Mexico went to war: Lieutenant Colonel Vallejo was imprisoned for his position in the Mexican military, and in his absence,
John C. Frémont
John Charles Frémont or Fremont (January 21, 1813July 13, 1890) was an American explorer, military officer, and politician. He was a U.S. Senator from California and was the first Republican nominee for president of the United States in 1856 ...
requisitioned and stripped the ranch of its horses, cattle and grain reserves for the
California Battalion
The California Battalion (also called the first California Volunteer Militia and U.S. Mounted Rifles) was formed during the Mexican–American War (1846–1848) in present-day California, United States. It was led by U.S. Army Brevet Lieutenant Co ...
. Many of the natives, his main labor force, fled from the soldiers. Thereafter the ranch declined in value and profitability every year.
In 1851 Vallejo submitted a claim to the United States for the animals and materials requisitioned by Fremont, ''et al.''. His claim was reduced by a Board of Officers appointed by the Congress to examine the claims and Vallejo was paid $48,700 in 1855.
The University of California considered purchasing it for a campus site in 1856. Vallejo sold the building and to William Whiteside for $25,000 circa 1857 who sold it to William Bliss. The southeast half of the adobe deteriorated and the Bliss family could not afford all the repairs.
Conversion to a historic park
In 1910,
Native Sons of the Golden West, Petaluma Parlor #27 purchased what remained of General Mariano G. Vallejo's vast adobe ranch house. Over half of the building had succumbed to neglect and the forces of nature. In 1932 it was registered as California State Historical Landmark #18.
After years of work and fundraising, the fully restored historic site was turned over to the
State of California
California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...
in 1951. In 1970, it was registered as a National Historic Landmark.
It is preserved as the centerpiece of Petaluma Adobe State Historic Park. About 80% of the adobe brick is original, although most of the wood has been replaced. A part of the foundation for the deteriorated half is visible, and a small museum and other exhibits are on display.
Locals refer to it as "Old Adobe."
See also
*
Alta California
Alta California ('Upper California'), also known as ('New California') among other names, was a province of New Spain, formally established in 1804. Along with the Baja California peninsula, it had previously comprised the province of , but ...
*
Californios
*
Bear Flag Revolt
The California Republic ( es, La República de California), or Bear Flag Republic, was an unrecognized breakaway state from Mexico, that for 25 days in 1846 militarily controlled an area north of San Francisco, in and around what is now Son ...
References
Footnotes
Sources
*
*
*
External links
Parks and Recreation in Sonoma County. ''Petaluma Adobe State Historic Park'' Sonomanet web site. Retrieved 2009-8-30
Petaluma Adobe SHPOfficial website, State of California
Early History of the California Coast, a National Park Service ''Discover Our Shared Heritage'' Travel Itinerary
{{National Register of Historic Places in California
Houses in Sonoma County, California
Adobe buildings and structures in California
California Historical Landmarks
Petaluma Adobe, Rancho
Ranchos of Sonoma County, California
National Historic Landmarks in the San Francisco Bay Area
Houses on the National Register of Historic Places in California
National Register of Historic Places in Sonoma County, California
Petaluma Adobe State Historic Park
Rancho Petaluma Adobe is a historic ranch house in Sonoma County, California. It was built from adobe bricks in 1836 by order of Mariano Guadalupe Vallejo. It was the largest privately owned adobe structure built in California and is the largest ...
Parks in Sonoma County, California
Museums in Sonoma County, California
Historic house museums in California
Protected areas established in 1932
Petaluma, California
Bay Area Ridge Trail