Santa Margarita Ranch House!

Santa Margarita Ranch House
Landmark #1026 San Diego County Visited: February 10, 2013 Plaque?  YES! 🙂
What is it? The Santa Margarita Ranch House still stands!
What makes it historical? THE GUIDE SAYS: In July 1769, the Portolá Expedition named this area for St. Margaret of Antioch. The Mission San Luis Rey 1827 Inventories list a small building in the area. In 1841, Rancho San Onofre Y Santa Margarita was granted to Andres and Pio Pico, the last governor of Alta California. Land magnate Don Juan Forster owned the rancho from 1864-1882. Richard O’Neill and James Flood purchased 205,000 acres in 1882. The ranch house stop served the 1882 transcontinental California Southern Railroad. In 1942, President Franklin D. Roosevelt dedicated Marine Corps Base Camp Joseph H. Pendleton. The railroad line continued as a vital military transportation link before devastation by the 1993 flood.

OTHER TIDBITS: This landmark is also listed on the National Register of Historic Places!

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

Where is this place? LISTED DIRECTIONS:
US Marine Corp Camp Pendleton
San Diego, CA 92058

ANNOTATIONS:
The road to the ranch house is on Vandegrift Boulevard, 300 feet north of the intersection with Basilone Road
Oceanside, CA 92058

From Los Angeles: ~86mi (139km) — 1.5hrs
From Sacramento: ~470mi (757km) — 7.9hrs
From San Diego: ~47mi (76km) — 0.8hrs
From San Francisco: ~467mi (752km) — 7.8hrs

When should I go? Since this is an active military base, you’re not guaranteed entry. I may have been lucky in that I just told the guard why I was there, and he let me on the base. Otherwise, tours run on the first Tuesday, second Wednesday and third Thursday of the month, from October through May!

Santa Margarita Ranch House

Santa Margarita Ranch House

Santa Margarita Ranch House

Click here to see more California historical landmarks!

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