Rancho Higuera

The adobe today.

Date unknown. For more historic photos see California Revealed.

Visit the Galindo-Higuera adobe located on the Rancho del Agua Caliente. This rancho was awarded to Fulgencio Higuera in 1839 by then governor Juan B. Alvarado. It consisted of 9,563 acres or 15 square miles. While here you can see the verdant green or golden hills and can imagine what it looked like with no fences and the rancho cattle that dotted the hillsides. This land supported 11,000 head of cattle and several hundred horses. 

In 1979 the adobe was in bad shape. Historians, architects, preservationists, and archaeologists agreed that the adobe was significant and worth saving; hence the restoration began. A total of 7,500 bricks had to be made to replace those that were missing. 

On special weekends and for field trips, children can participate in candle making, learn how to design a brand and practice branding a piece of felt with the Higuera brand, and make an authentic adobe brick the way the Ohlone did so many years ago. Inside the building are displays that describe the hide and tallow trade, a video that shows how the land was used from the Ohlone period to the restoration and a display of Ohlone artifacts. 

This adobe and its 20 acres represents an important chapter in Spanish-Mexican-California history and we at the Washington Township Museum of Local History are happy to share this gem with the public.