The Bancroft Ranch House!

Bancroft Ranch House
Landmark #626 San Diego County Visited: January 26, 2014 Plaque?  YES! 🙂
What is it? The still standing adobe home of the Porters and historian, Hubert Howe Bancroft!
What makes it historical? THE GUIDE SAYS: Adobe built about 1863 by A. S. Ensworth. Home of Capt. Rufus K. Porter and family. Curved timbers brought from the Clarissa Andrews, famed coaling hulk formerly of the Pacific Mail Steamship Co. Historian Hubert Howe Bancroft later owned this estate and here wrote a part of his monumental History of California.

OTHER TIDBITS: This area has been an important place for millennia, owing to the freshwater spring for which Spring Valley takes its name! The Kumeyaay lived here originally in a place called Meti, until the missions were secularized and the rancheros kicked them out! Interestingly enough, Rufus K. Porter was the son of the founder of Scientific American and was so tickled pink by the discovery of a European snail on a nearby peak that he named both the peak and the local post office after it (Helix)! Then, when Hubert Bancroft moved in, he finished his days building Helix Farm! Must have been a slow process!

How can I Help the Helpers? HERE’S HOW:

  • Volunteer with the Spring Valley Historical Society!
  • Donate to the Spring Valley Historical Society!
  • Be a responsible visitor! Please respect the signs and pathways, and treat all structures and artifacts with respect. They’ve endured a lot to survive into the present. They’ll need our help to make it into the future!
Where is this place? LISTED DIRECTIONS:
One block E of Memory and Bancroft Dr
Spring Valley, CA 91977

ANNOTATIONS:
9050 Memory Ln
Spring Valley, CA 91977

From Los Angeles: ~128mi (206km) — 2.2hrs
From Sacramento: ~512mi (824km) — 8.6hrs
From San Diego: ~11mi (18km) — 0.2hrs
From San Francisco: ~509mi (820km) — 8.5hrs

When should I go? The adobe is open Friday, Saturday, and Sunday from 1:00 PM until 4:00 PM!

Bancroft Ranch House

Bancroft Ranch House

Bancroft Ranch House

Click here to see more California historical landmarks!

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