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California Historical Society Collection, 1860-1960
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Title Insurance and Trust and C.C. Pierce Photography Collection 1860-1960
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Exterior side view of "El Ranchita", the favorite ranch of Governor Pio Pico, Whittier, California, ca.1895
(USC DC Image)
Exterior side view of "El Ranchita", the favorite ranch of Governor Pio Pico, Whittier, California, ca.1895
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Description
Photograph of the exterior side view of "El Ranchita", the favorite ranch of Governor Pio Pico, Whittier, California, ca.1895. The two-story building has a Federal-style look where back section of the building (at right) features a boxy-type of architecture and balustraded walkways. An arcade covers the corner of the building (at left). The building is in dilapidated condition. The lawn is uneven and has scrub grass growing on it. A sign posted on a lamppost in the front yard reads: "El Camino Real, this was the house of the last governor under Mexican rule, Don Pio Pico." Photoprint reads: "Note: photo is a fake. Bell was pasted on later." -- Chuck Elliot.; "Pio de Jesus Pico (1801-1894), the last Mexican governor of Alta California, the region above what is now Mexico, was born in the San Gabriel Mission, the son of a soldier, Jose Maria Pico. His father had come from Mexico with the famous Anza expedition of 1801. The fourth of ten children, Pico's heritage was a mix of African, Native American, Hispanic and European roots. A revolutionary in his youth, he became governor in 1845 following a revolt that ended with a bloodless artillery duel near Cahuenga Pass that forced out governor Manuel Micheltorena. The historic site, Campo de Cahuenga, opposite Universal Studios, marks the spot today. During his brief tenure as the last Mexican governor, Pico completed the secularization of the missions. He was also accused of recklessly redistributing mission property to friends and allies as the American takeover of California neared. Pico greatly feared the growing American migration to California. Pico favored annexation with France or England, believing that the European powers would be more tolerant of the slower Californio way of life. In 1846, with American troops occupying Los Angeles (which Pico had had made the state capital) and San Diego, Pico bowed to the inevitable and escaped to Mexico." -- Albert Greenstein, 1999 (part 1 of 2).; "Two years later, with California a territory of the United States, he returned home as a private citizen, businessman and early member of the Los Angeles City Council. Over the years, gambling losses took a heavy toll on Pico's fortune. He eventually sold his last major holding, a ranch in the San Fernando Valley, and built Pico House, a deluxe downtown hotel that was the largest of its day. He eventually lost the hotel too. Living off the charity of friends, he died in poverty in Los Angeles at the home of his daughter, Joaquina Pico Moreno, and was buried in a pauper's grave. The Pico House, located on the Plaza across from Olvera Street, has been restored and is on the National Register of Historic Places. Pico Boulevard, a major L.A. thoroughfare, bears the governor's name. The Pio Pico home he called El Ranchito still stands in Whittier." -- Albert Greenstein, 1999 (part 2 of 2).; "In the mid 1800s, the last Governor of Mexican California built his ranch house in Whittier. This large adobe building has survived floods, earthquakes, and numerous owners. The story of the building mirrors its owner's life: the famed Don Pio Pico. It is a classic rags to riches and back to rags story. By 1855, soon after the building of his "El Ranchito" he held title to over 532,000 acres of southern California land, making him one of the wealthiest men in the state. The man born into the Mission system of California rose to be Governor and a Los Angeles councilman. The story of how he lost his beloved ranch is a story itself of a swindle that eventually reached the State Supreme Court. By 1891, a mortgage he thought he had on the property (it actually was a deed) was foreclosed and he lost the property. By 1894 he died and his ranch house was almost in ruin. This "little ranch" was actually a 27- room, two-story adobe, and it is now revealing her secrets to the DPR archaeologists and historians." -- Parkman, E. Breck, ca.2001.
Asset Metadata
Title
Exterior side view of "El Ranchita", the favorite ranch of Governor Pio Pico, Whittier, California, ca.1895
Subject
Adobe houses
(lcsh),
agricultural sites
(adlf),
Bells
(lcsh),
Los Angeles County -- Whittier -- Architecture -- Domestic
(file heading),
Pico, Pio
(subject),
Signs and signboards
(lcsh)
Tags
OAI-PMH Harvest
Place
California
(states),
Los Angeles
(counties),
USA
(countries),
Whittier
(city or populated place)
Temporal Subject
1885/1905
Type
images
Format
2 photographs : photoprints, b&w ; 8 x 10 in.
(aacr2),
photographic prints
(aat),
photographs
(aat)
Source
California Historical Society
(contributing entity),
California Historical Society Collection, 1860-1960
(collection),
Title Insurance and Trust, and C.C. Pierce Photography Collection, 1860-1960
(subcollection)
Date Created
1885/1905
Publisher
University of Southern California. Libraries
(digital)
Repository Email
specol@lib.usc.edu
Repository Name
USC Libraries Special Collections
Repository Location
Doheny Memorial Library, Los Angeles, CA 90089-0189
Rights
Public Domain. Please credit both “University of Southern California. Libraries” and “California Historical Society” as the source. Digitally reproduced by the USC Digital Library.
Copyright
Public Domain. Please credit both “University of Southern California. Libraries” and “California Historical Society” as the source. Digitally reproduced by the USC Digital Library.
Access Conditions
Send requests to address or e-mail given
Permanent Link (DOI)
https://doi.org/10.25549/chs-m6763
Identifier
5894 (
accession number
), CHS-5894 (
call number
), CHS-5894 (
filename
), chs-m265 (
legacy collection record id
), chs-c65-6823 (
legacy record id
), chs-m6763 (
legacy record id
), USC-0-1-1-6877 (
legacy record id
), 1-58-28 (
microfiche number
), USC (
project
)
IIIF ID
[Document.IIIFV3ID]
DM Record ID
6823
Unique identifier
UC121918
Legacy Identifier
CHS-5894.tiff
Type
Image
Internet Media Type
image/tiff
Resolution
17.0 in × 13.4 in at 300dpi
43.1 cm × 34.1 cm at 300dpi
Inherited Values
Title
Title Insurance and Trust and C.C. Pierce Photography Collection 1860-1960
Description
The nearly 15,000 unique photographs of this collection contain the work of C.C. Pierce which cover the Los Angeles region city, street and architectural views, California Missions, Southwestern Native Americans, and turn-of-century Nevada, Arizona, and California. Pierce, active from 1886 to 1940, was one of the leading photographers of his day and amassed a collection of 15,000 images, including his own and those bought and copied from his contemporaries, George Wharton James and Charles Puck. The James collection contains over 2,000 images of portraits, customs, ceremonies, arts, and games of various groups of Southwestern Native Americans.
Date Created
1860/1960
Linked assets
Title Insurance and Trust and C.C. Pierce Photography Collection 1860-1960
Conceptually similar
Exterior view of Pio Pico's adobe, Whittier, ca.1900
View of the courtyard at Pío Pico's residence on Whittier Road, Whittier, ca.1900
Ruins of Pio Pico's first home at Whittier Road, shown from across a pond, ca.1883
Painting by Mrs. Alva (Uva?) Starbuck depicting the Pio Pico house in Whittier, ca.1893
Exterior view of the Pio Pico mansion at El Ranchito, showing two women, Whittier, ca.1907
Three women outside of the Pio Pico adobe on Whittier Road, ca.1900
Exterior view of the ruins of Andrés Pico's home, near mission, San Fernando Valley, ca.1915
Three women standing on the porch of the Pio Pico Adobe in Whittier, ca.1888-1892
Portrait of ninety year-old Pio Pico, the last Mexican governor of California, 1891
Painting of a portrait of Don Pio Pico (last Mexican governor of California, 1845-1846), ca.1885
Portrait of Governor Pio Pico with his wife and two nieces, ca.1885
Portrait of Don Pio Pico, the last Mexican governor of California, [s.d.]
Portrait of Don Pio Pico and wife, ca.1850-1859
Portrait of Don Jose Antonio Pico, II, father of Lieutenant Jose A. Pico, the elder brother of Governor Pio Pico and General Andrés Pico, ca.1860
Painting of a portrait of Don Pio Pico, [s.d.]
Exterior view of the ranch house at Agua Hedionda, ca.1930
Portrait of Pio Pico at ninety years of age, 1891
Tomb of Pio Pico at Buenavista Cemetary on North Broadway Street, ca.1906
Exterior of Hugo Reid's adobe on the Baldwin Ranch, showing a large pond in the foreground, ca.1939
Exterior view of the ranch house of Santa Rita Ranch, showing part of an old adobe incorporated into a newer home in Monterey County, 1938
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