Rancho Peñasquitos Adobe
Francisco María Ruiz, Commandante of the San Diego Presidio, received the first Mexican land grant in San Diego County in 1823 after building a small adobe on the land. The 8,486 acres of Rancho Santa Maria de Los Peñasquitos were centered generally on Los Peñasquitos Canyon. From 1857 to 1860 the rancho was a way station on that road for the coaches of the San Antonio-San Diego Mail Line on the 125-mile route between San Diego and Carrizo Creek Station. Enlarged in 1862 as the home of Captain George Alonzo Johnson, a celebrated Yankee river boat captain, and his wife, the niece of California’s last Mexican governor, Pio Pico, the building and site comprise a National Historic and Archaeological District. Rancho Peñasquitos Adobe is most notable as the second oldest colonial structure in San Diego County.
San Diego, San Diego County
Photographer: John Bare