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| Landmark #548 | Merced County | Visited: February 21, 2015 | Plaque? YES! 🙂 |
| What is it? | España’s Restaurant! |
| What makes it historical? | THE GUIDE SAYS: This original San Joaquin Valley ranch headquarters of California pioneer and cattle baron Henry Miller (1827-1916) was established in 1873. His farsighted planning and development in the 1870s of a vast gravity irrigation system, and the founding of Los Banos in 1889, provided the basis for this area’s present stability and wealth.
OTHER TIDBITS: Henry Miller was born in Brackenheim Wurtenburg, Germany and moved to Panama to seek his fortune! There, he caught Panama Fever, lost a business to a foolish partner, and went north to San Francisco with five dollars to his name. He began work with a butcher, but after the great San Francisco Fire of 1851, decided he was done working for someone else and built his own butcher shop. Business boomed because he opened early and closed late! Partnering with Charles Lux, Mr. Miller bought options in all cattle herds north of the Tehachapi Range and continued on to buy unclaimed rancho lands and even the many acres that had never been claimed! Though Mr. Lux didn’t like Mr. Miller’s penchant for land purchases, they both ended up multi-millionaires by that very action! |
| How can I Help the Helpers? | HERE’S HOW:
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| Where is this place? | LISTED DIRECTIONS: 1460 E Pacheco Blvd Los Banos, CA 93635 ANNOTATIONS: From Los Angeles: ~265mi (427km) — 4.5hrs |
| When should I go? | You can visit the plaque any time you like, but if you want to eat at Españas, it’s open every day from 11:00 AM until 9:30 PM (10:30 on weekends)! |
