El Molino Viejo
Father José María de Zalvidea designed and built El Molino Viejo, the Old Mill, in 1816 in the San Rafael Hills of present-day San Marino. It is the oldest commercial structure in Southern California. It served as the grist mill for San Gabriel Mission until 1823 when a new mill was built closer to the mission. It passed from mission control to private hands in 1846. Henry Huntington bought the building in 1903 and used it for a golf clubhouse. Later owners, Mr. and Mrs. James Brehm, had the mill restored in 1928. When Mrs. Brehm died in 1962, the Old Mill was willed to the City of San Marino and is now a museum. It is a California Historical Landmark and on the National Register of Historic Places.
San Marino, Los Angeles
Images by Al Russell