A Historical Landmark in the South Bay: The Dominguez Rancho Adobe By Eleanor Boba
A Historical Landmark in the South Bay: The Dominguez Rancho Adobe
By Eleanor Boba
Image: Dominguez Rancho Adobe Museum
Los Angeles County’s South Bay and environs are home to several landmarks connected to the Spanish colonial, Mexican, and Californio periods. Visits to these vestiges of a bygone era provide a chance to immerse oneself in an era when cattle ranching was king, neighbors were few and far between, and Spanish culture dominated.
At Rancho Los Alamitos, Rancho Los Cerritos, the Centinela Adobe, and the Dominguez Rancho Adobe Museum, one can see why a romanticized vision of this era still fascinates and influences Southern California architecture and decorative arts.
Kitchen at the Rancho Adobe
The Rancho San Pedro, also known as the Dominguez Rancho, was the first royal large land grant in (Alta) California. The original land grant encompassed 75,000 acres, including the entire Los Angeles harbor and all of the Palos Verdes Peninsula, as well as what would become the three coastal cities, Redondo Beach, Hermosa Beach, and Manhattan Beach, and extending east to the Los Angeles River. This enormous land grant was made in 1784 by King Carlos III of Spain to Juan José Dominguez, a retired Spanish soldier who had come to California with the Portolá expedition and Father Junipero Serra. His descendants, particularly his grand-nephew Manuel Dominguez, managed and improved the land. In 1826, Manuel and his wife built the adobe homestead that still stands on the property. The family raised cattle for beef and tallow and later added sheep ranching and orchards to their enterprises.
Portrait of Manuel Dominguez by Solomon Nunes Carvalho
Manuel Dominguez was an active participant in local politics both before and after the 1847 handover of California to the United States. He served the government of Mexican Alta California from 1828 until the American conquest in 1847; from then on, he served the United States. He held positions as Alcalde (Mayor) of Los Angeles, Judge of the First Instance, Territorial Representative to the State Assembly at Monterey, Prefect of the Second District, Delegate to the California State Constitution, and Los Angeles County Supervisor. In 1852 he retired from public service, devoting the rest of his life to managing his estate.
The first half of the 19th century was a time of rapidly changing governments, spotty record-keeping and conflicting land claims. The Dominguez family was unique among the land grant families in that they were able to hold on to core holdings through political transitions from Spanish colony to Mexican rule to conquest by American forces (not to mention a very brief period of self-rule by Californios). Following the American takeover, a long-simmering feud with the neighboring Sepúlveda family led to the partition of the land, with nearly half going to the Sepúlvedas and renamed Rancho Los Palos Verdes. In the subsequent decades, the Dominguez family created the Carson Companies, Del Amo Estate Company, and Watson Land Company to hold and develop the remaining land.
The Battle of Dominguez Hill as imagined by Kathleen Rabago a Dominguez Rancho Adobe Museum docent
Notable Events
The Rancho holds a place in two notable historic events. The Battle of Dominguez Hill, sometimes known as the Battle of the Old Woman’s Gun, took place in October, 1846, when ill-equipped American soldiers and marines marched up a dirt track leading from San Pedro, along the edge of the Palos Verdes hills, toward the Pueblo of Los Angeles to battle it out with the Californios who had kicked them out a few weeks before. Stopping at the Rancho to rest, the Americans found themselves surrounded by mounted Californios armed with a small cannon. The subsequent running battle wore down both sides until the Americans were forced to retreat to their ships in the bay. While it did not change the ultimate outcome of the war for California (Americans retook the Pueblo the following January), the battle is seen as a victory for the underdog, as well as a cautionary tale: always take water and artillery with you when you go out to do battle on a hot day.
Map showing the mid-19th century partition of the rancho and the Dominguez homestead (in red)
Several decades later, the Dominguez Rancho was the site of quite a different sort of happening – the first major air show to take place on American soil. The Los Angeles International Air Meet took place in January 1910 on a large field owned by the Dominguez family. Tens of thousands of ticket-holders (some sources say a quarter of a million) were able to get a close-up view of balloons, dirigibles, and the sensational new “aeroplanes.”
Watch this space for more on the battle and the air show in months to come!
The Rancho Today
The Dominguez Rancho today consists of a 17-acre site, with the adobe homestead as the centerpiece. In the 1920s, the family deeded the land to the Catholic order of Claretian Missionaries. The Dominguez Memorial Seminary, stands on the property, across from the museum. Since 1976 the adobe homestead has been a museum offering displays on the Battle of Dominguez Rancho and the Air Show, as well as rooms furnished in the period style of mid-19th century Old California. Gardens feature native plants, cacti, topiary, a children’s garden, and 325 rose plants.
The Dominguez Rancho Adobe is California Historical Landmark Number 152; in 1976 it was placed on the National Register of Historic Places by the United States Department of the Interior. It is located in the Rancho Dominguez community, between Carson and Compton.
In the year 2001, the non-profit Friends of Rancho San Pedro was formed to help maintain and promote the history of nearly 200 years. The Mission of the Friends is to preserve and increase community awareness of early California history as it relates to the Dominguez family, homestead adobe, and the Rancho San Pedro, the first Spanish land grant in California. This is accomplished through educational programs and the operation of the Dominguez Rancho Adobe Museum.
Eleanor Boba is a public historian who has been involved with a number of historical and environmental organizations in the Seattle and Los Angeles areas. She enjoys writing about lesser-known people and places, bringing primary source materials to light, and recording oral histories. She holds a master’s degree in Public Historical Studies from U.C. Santa Barbara.
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