Ygnacio Palomares Adobe
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The Ygnacio Palomares Adobe, also known as Adobe de Palomares, is a one-story adobe brick structure in
Pomona, California Pomona is a city in Los Angeles County, California. Pomona is located in the Pomona Valley, between the Inland Empire and the San Gabriel Valley. At the 2020 census, the city's population was 151,713. The main campus of California State Pol ...
, built between 1850 and 1855 as a residence for Don Ygnacio Palomares. It was abandoned in the 1880s and was left to the elements until it was acquired by the City of Pomona in the 1930s. In 1939, the adobe was restored in a joint project of the City of Pomona, the Historical Society of Pomona Valley and the
Works Project Administration The Works Progress Administration (WPA; renamed in 1939 as the Work Projects Administration) was an American New Deal agency that employed millions of jobseekers (mostly men who were not formally educated) to carry out public works projects, in ...
. Since 1940, it has been open to the public as a museum on life in the Spanish and Mexican ranchos. It was listed on the
National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic ...
in 1971. Of the more than 400 sites in Los Angeles County that have been listed on the National Register, fewer than ten received the distinction prior to the Ygnacio Palomares Adobe.


History and architecture


Rancho San Jose

The Ygancio Palomares Adobe, built between 1850 and 1855, was once the center of the sprawling
Rancho San Jose 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 ...
. The Rancho San Jose consisted of land taken from the Mission San Gabriel in 1834 as part of the Mexican government's secularization decree. In 1837, Mexican Governor
Juan Bautista Alvarado Juan Bautista Valentín Alvarado y Vallejo (February 14, 1809 – July 13, 1882) was a Californio politician that served as Governor of Alta California from 1837-42. Prior to his term as governor, Alvarado briefly led a movement for independe ...
granted the land to
Ygnacio Palomares Ygnacio may refer to: Given name: *Ygnacio Coronel (1795–1862), settler in the Pueblo de Los Ángeles of Mexican Alta California * Luis Ygnacio Liendo (born 1980), amateur Venezuelan Greco-Roman wrestler in the men's lightweight category * Ygnaci ...
and Ricardo Vejar, both Californio sons of New Spain natives. The Rancho San Jose operated by Dons Palomares and Vejar covered land that now forms the communities of Pomona, LaVerne, San Dimas,
Diamond Bar Diamond Bar is a city in eastern Los Angeles County, California, United States. At the 2010 census it had a population of 55,544, and in 2019 the population was estimated to be 55,720. It is named after the "diamond over a bar" branding iron re ...
,
Azusa Azusa may refer to: Relating to California From a Native American language, likely Tongva language, Tongva ''Asuksagna:'' *Azusa, California, a city in the United States *Azusa Pacific University, a Christian-based institution in Azusa, California ...
,
Covina Covina is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States, about east of downtown Los Angeles, in the San Gabriel Valley. The population was 51,268 according to the 2020 census, up from 47,796 at the 2010 census. The city's slogan, "On ...
,
Walnut A walnut is the edible seed of a drupe of any tree of the genus ''Juglans'' (family Juglandaceae), particularly the Persian or English walnut, '' Juglans regia''. Although culinarily considered a "nut" and used as such, it is not a true ...
, Glendora, and Claremont. Palomares initially lived in "La Casa Primera", an earlier adobe which is also operated by the Historical Society of Pomona Valley.


Construction and architecture

Between 1850 and 1855, Palomares built a new home, which is the present historic site. The 13-room adobe was built in a T-shape with a courtyard. The living room and master bedroom were located at the stem of the T, and the adobe also had four more bedrooms, a dining room, kitchen, storeroom, tienda (or store), and storage chambers. The kitchen was located at the north end of the T, close to the outdoor oven (or "horno"). The house has been said to represent the blending of Mexican adobe construction and American styles, with the use of wood-shake roofing and milled-wood flooring on the adobe structure.


Use by the Palomares family

The Palomares Adobe was used for a time as an overnight stagecoach stop at the midway point between Los Angeles and San Bernardino. The Palomares home was reportedly "the heart of the rancho," with its doors open to travelers and a store that provided goods to settlers. The large living room served for many years as a meeting place and a chapel where padres from the San Gabriel Mission would travel once a month to say mass. Ygnacio Palomares and his wife operated the land as a sheep and cattle ranch, grew their own crops, and raised five children at the adobe. The ranch prospered for many years, but a severe drought devastated the ranch in the early 1860s. Smallpox also claimed the lives of three of the Palomares' children, and Don Ygnacio died in 1864. Don Ygnacio's widow, Dona Concepcion Lopez de Palomares (also known as "Dona China"), began selling off the ranch land in 1865. In 1874, another of the Palomares' children died, and Dona China sold the remaining , including the adobe, at $8 an acre, to John R. Loop and Alvin R. Meserve. The new owners, the Meserve family, continued to maintain the adobe as a community gathering place after acquiring it in 1874. Prominent Los Angeles attorney Edwin A. Meserve, later recalled coming to the adobe as "a sickly youngster of 13" in 1877, regaining his health while living in the old adobe. However, by the mid-1880s, the old adobe had been deserted.


Deterioration

From the 1880s through the 1920s, the adobe was left to the elements and fell into severe disrepair, with whole wings of the house being washed away and the walls and roof crumbling. The dilapidated condition of the adobe is shown in 1938 photographs see
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Restoration and museum

In 1934, the City of Pomona purchased the land for a reservoir, and the Historical Society of Pomona Valley began plans for restoration of the adobe and surrounding site. In the spring and summer of 1939, seventy WPA workers began the process of restoring the adobe. Following the traditional method, the workers molded the adobe bricks by hand using dirt from the Ganesha Hills and straw as the only binder, and cured the bricks in the sun. Approximately 25,000 new adobe bricks were used in the restoration process. The cost of the restoration was placed at $54,000. Many of the bricks were also made from the broken original adobe bricks - the new bricks used shorter lengths of straw, while the old bricks showed the use of longer marsh grass. The restoration was completed in December 1939, followed by its furnishing with period furniture typical of the California ranchos, This effort was led by the head of the Furnishing Committee, Mrs. Harry Walker of San Dimas. The original landscaping was also restored with wisteria vines and wild cherry, black walnut, pomegranate, and poplar trees. Charles Gibbs Adams oversaw the landscaping restoration, with tree plantings, shrubs and rosebushes located close to where they had been in the mid-19th Century. The adobe was dedicated and opened to the public in April 1940 as a museum focusing on life in the early California ranchos. At the dedication ceremony, the keys were presented by Pomona's mayor to the Historical Society of Pomona Valley, and Ygancio Palomares, grandson of Don Ygnacio, "danced the dances taught him by his grandmother, his granddaughter Hilda Ramirez, being his dancing partner." The restoration was well-received, with commendation from Ed Ainsworth of the ''Los Angeles Times'' writing: "The example of this restoration ought to inspire other communities and families to do the same. This adobe has now become an imperishable glorification of early California, and an irresistible lure for modern visitors." Two years later, the ''Los Angeles Times'' reported: "The structure has become famous throughout the nation as a permanent museum housing many relics and equipment of the early Spanish days in California." In 1968, it was called "one of the pleasantest and most complete of the rancho restorations." Members of the Palomares family were invited to move into the restored adobe as caretakers. In December 1939, Porfiero R. Palomares (c. 1871–1942), who was born in the adobe and was the grandson of Don Ygnacio, moved into the restored structure as caretaker with his wife and daughter. Porfiero lived at the adobe until he died there in October 1942. Porfiero's widow, Hortensia Yorba Palomares, continued to live in the adobe until her death in July 1958.


''Rebuilding of the Palomares Adobe'' mural (1941)

Artist and filmmaker Frank Stauffacher created a 16.5-foot long oil-on-fabric mural depicting construction on the Palomares Adobe, which is mounted on the west wall of the former Santa Fe Rail Station, now the Pomona Transit Center, Pomona. The mural's workers and spectators are depicted in 19th century attire, suggesting a nostalgic perspective.


California Historical Landmark

The
California Historical 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 ...
Marker NO. 372 at the site reads:californiahistoricallandmarks.com 372, Ygnacio Palomares Adobe
/ref> *''NO. 372 ADOBE DE PALOMARES - Completed about 1854 and restored in 1939, this was the family home of Don Ygnacio Palomares. Governor Juan B. Alvarado granted Rancho San Jose to Don Ygnacio and Don Ricardo Vejar in 1837. ''


See also

*
List of Registered Historic Places in Los Angeles County, California __NOTOC__ This is a list of the National Register of Historic Places listings in Los Angeles County, California. This is intended to be a complete list of the properties and districts on the National Register of Historic Places in Los Angeles Cou ...
* La Casa de Carrión land gifted by Ygnacio Palomares to Saturnino Carrión a Historic Place.


References


External links


Official web site for Ygnacio Palomares Adobe



Historic Marker


{{National Register of Historic Places in California Adobe buildings and structures in California Buildings and structures in Pomona, California Historic house museums in California History of Pomona, California Houses in Los Angeles County, California Museums in Los Angeles County, California Houses completed in 1855 California Historical Landmarks Houses on the National Register of Historic Places in California Buildings and structures on the National Register of Historic Places in Los Angeles County, California History museums in California Pomona Valley