Rancho Camulos

We decided to do some sightseeing closer to home.  About 15 minutes from our house, out in the middle of nowhere, is Rancho Camulos.  This is the only rancho in Southern California surrounded by its original environment (any remaining are found in the middle of urban life).  The Rancho has only been owned by 2 families since it was given away back in the 1800s.  It was damaged in the Northridge earthquake and they have slowly done renovations.  We were lead by a very enthusiastic volunteer who told us a little bit about its owners, its history and the history of Ramona.

This was a working rancho surrounded by crop fields which oranges were a big commodity.  They had upwards of 200 people working the rancho and it was the responsibility of the family to look after them and feed them.  They had a chapel on the grounds which is the only sanctified chapel outside a church (when I mean sanctified I mean that it actually has relics under the altar).

The front of the house with the chapel on the right side.

Once a year they would throw a week long party where they would lounge and eat food all the time.  They had a large courtyard that was surrounded by long tables filled with food.  What I didn't realize is that you never went on vacations or took work breaks so these yearly celebrations were the only time you had off.  No wonder it was constant partying for the week.

These trees are original and were used as a way to welcome travelers.  Inside this courtyard is where the parties were thrown.

Later in it's history a woman by the name of Helen Jackson stopped by for a visit.  She wrote a book called Ramona that was a book about the plight of the native communities.  Our tour guide equated it to Uncle Tom's Cabin, a contemporary book written to help raise awareness.  The location for the novel was inspired by Rancho Camulos.  Since the book was a success, it lead to many people coming to see the location.  In fact there was a train stop right across the street for easy access.  In the 1910s they even made Ramona into a silent movie starring the very famous and rich Mary Pickford.  At the end of our tour we watched the movie.  It was about 20 minutes long.

The front of the house was featured prominently in the silent movie Ramona.

Rancho Camulos is a very pretty place to visit and was great to learn a little bit more of this part of California history.

This pond used to house a pet alligator.  It eventually got too big so they donated it to a zoo.  EEK!