Los Encinos State Historic Park

Last updated
Los Encinos State Historic Park
Garnier Building at Rancho Los Encinos.JPG
Garnier Building, 2008
USA California location map.svg
Red pog.svg
Usa edcp location map.svg
Red pog.svg
Location Los Angeles County, California, United States
Nearest city Encino, Los Angeles
Coordinates 34°9′37″N118°29′57″W / 34.16028°N 118.49917°W / 34.16028; -118.49917
Area4.7 acres (1.9 ha)
Established1949
Governing body California Department of Parks and Recreation
Reference no.689 [1]

Los Encinos State Historic Park is a state park unit of California, preserving buildings of Rancho Los Encinos. The park is located near the corner of Balboa and Ventura Boulevards in Encino, California, in the San Fernando Valley. The rancho includes the original nine-room de la Ossa Adobe, the two-story limestone Garnier building, a blacksmith shop, a natural spring, and a pond. The 4.7-acre (1.9 ha) site was established as a California state park in 1949. [2]

Contents

History

The natural spring provided a year-round source of water for the ancient village of Siutcanga, home to the Tongva people, for thousands of years. The name syútkanga actually means "place of the oak" in the Fernandeño language, a dialect of the Tongva language, a name later reflected in Spanish as Los Encinos, or "the oaks" in Spanish. [3] A description of this village was recorded as part of the 1769 Portola Expedition. This Spanish expedition reached the San Fernando Valley and named it "El Valle de Santa Catalina de Bononia de Los Encinos" (The Valley of St. Catherine of Bononia of the Oaks).

Located along a significant travel route between Los Angeles and Santa Barbara, the property passed through many hands between the 1840s and the early 20th century. Today the park contains exhibits related to the agricultural enterprises of Rancho Los Encinos' various owners, including Mission Indian, Californio, French, and French Basque families.

Springs

Los Encinos State Historic Park fountain Los Encinos State Historic Park fountain.jpg
Los Encinos State Historic Park fountain
"Encino Hot Springs" Los Angeles Evening Express, September 22, 1923 "Encino Hot Springs" Los Angeles Evening Express, September 22, 1923.jpg
"Encino Hot Springs" Los Angeles Evening Express, September 22, 1923

The Encino Springs are historic artesian springs that were the site of the Siutcanga village of the Tongva-Kizh people, and later provided water for Rancho Los Encinos in what is now the San Fernando Valley region of Los Angeles County, California.

Juan Crespí mentioned the springs in his 1769 diary. [4] In 1845, Manuel Micheltorena's troops camped at the Encino Springs before the Battle of Providencia. [5] The spring reservoirs were apparently built around 1872 by Eugene Garnier. [6] According to a description from 1875 the main ranch spring "supplied a stone reservoir and a bathing pool and yielded about 5 U.S. gallons (19 L; 4.2 imp gal) a minute". [7] An 1890 account described "a number" of springs at Encino "in local use". [8] The springs were carbonated, smelled slightly of hydrogen sulphide, and emerged with a water temperature of about 83–90 °F (28–32 °C) As of 1915, there were two recognized springs on the site, about 30 feet (9.1 m) apart, the smaller spring west of the larger spring, and enclosed in a small reservoir made of stone. According to a U.S. government geologist, the water was associated with a layer of Miocene shale, "which here dips about 25°N" toward the Valley, and was a "primary and secondary alkaline and primary saline water of moderate mineralization". [7] As of 1969 the springs still yielded 24,000 U.S. gallons (91,000 L; 20,000 imp gal) a day, [9] and they were still flowing at Los Encinos State Historic Park as of 1978. [10]

Rancho El Encino mapped in 1871, just before the spring reservoirs were built; the grove on the left is oaks, the grove on the top right, guatamotes, is California seep willow Rancho El Encino 1871.jpg
Rancho El Encino mapped in 1871, just before the spring reservoirs were built; the grove on the left is oaks, the grove on the top right, guatamotes, is California seep willow

Upon discovery in 1925 of a grinding stone and possible burial ground west of the springs, archeologist John A. Comstock told a newspaper reporter that "Indians in the Encino Hot Springs vicinity fashioned the finest stone vessels of any Indians In this part of the country with the possible exception of Catalina Island Indians who had a stone particularly adaptable to such purposes". [12] There was an Encino Hot Springs resort in the 1920s. [13] [14]

California Historical Landmark Marker

California Historical Landmark Marker NO. 689 at the site reads: [15]

See also

Related Research Articles

Northridge is a neighborhood in the San Fernando Valley region of the City of Los Angeles. The community is home to California State University, Northridge, and the Northridge Fashion Center.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Canoga Park, Los Angeles</span> Neighborhood of Los Angeles

Canoga Park is a neighborhood in the San Fernando Valley region of the City of Los Angeles, California. Before the Mexican–American War, the district was part of a rancho, and after the American victory it was converted into wheat farms and then subdivided, with part of it named Owensmouth as a town founded in 1912. It joined Los Angeles in 1917 and was renamed Canoga Park on March 1, 1931, after Canoga, New York.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">San Fernando Valley</span> Valley in Los Angeles County, California, US

The San Fernando Valley, known locally as the Valley, is an urbanized valley in Los Angeles County, California. Situated to the north of the Los Angeles Basin, it contains a large portion of the city of Los Angeles, as well as unincorporated areas; and the incorporated cities of Burbank, Calabasas, Glendale, Hidden Hills, and San Fernando. The valley is well known for its film studios such as Warner Bros. Studios and Walt Disney Studios. In addition, it is home to the Universal Studios Hollywood theme park.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chatsworth, Los Angeles</span> Neighborhood of Los Angeles in California, United States

Chatsworth is a suburban neighborhood in Los Angeles, California, in the San Fernando Valley.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Encino, Los Angeles</span> Neighborhood of Los Angeles in California, United States

Encino is a neighborhood in the San Fernando Valley region of Los Angeles, California.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ventura Boulevard</span> Thoroughfare in San Fernando Valley

Ventura Boulevard is one of the primary east–west thoroughfares in the San Fernando Valley region of the City of Los Angeles, California. Ventura Boulevard is one of the oldest routes in the San Fernando Valley as it is along the commemorative route El Camino Real. It was also U.S. Route 101 (US 101) before the freeway was built, and it was also previously signed as U.S. Route 101 Business.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">West Hills, Los Angeles</span> Neighborhood in Los Angeles, California, United States

West Hills is a suburban/residential community in the western San Fernando Valley region of the City of Los Angeles, California. The percentage of residents aged 35 and older is among the highest in Los Angeles County.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Domingo Amestoy</span> Basque sheepherder and banker

Domingo Amestoy —born Dominique— (1822–1892) was a Basque sheepherder, and banker, one of the original founders to provide the financing for the Farmers and Merchants Bank in Los Angeles, California, in 1871.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Campo de Cahuenga</span> Historic house in California, United States

The Campo de Cahuenga, near the historic Cahuenga Pass in present-day Studio City, California, was an adobe ranch house on the Rancho Cahuenga where the Treaty of Cahuenga was signed between Lieutenant Colonel John C. Frémont and General Andrés Pico in 1847, ending hostilities in California between Mexico and the United States. The subsequent Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo of 1848, ceding California, parts of Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, and Arizona to the United States, formally ended the Mexican–American War. From 1858 to 1861 the Campo de Cahuenga became a Butterfield Stage Station.

The Hahamog'na, commonly anglicized to Hahamongna and spelled Xaxaamonga in their native language, are a tribe of the Tongva people of California. Their language belongs to the Uto-Aztecan family.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tongva Sacred Springs</span> Historic site in University High School, Los Angeles

The Tongva Sacred Springs are a group of springs located on the campus of University High School in Los Angeles, California. The springs, called Koruuvanga by the native Gabrieleno Tongva people, were used as a source of natural fresh water by the Tongva people since at least the 5th century BC and continue to produce 22,000–25,000 US gallons (83,000–95,000 L) of water a day. The springs are also sometimes referred to as the Gabrieleno-Tongva Springs, the Tongva Holy Springs, and the Sacred Springs.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rancho Los Encinos</span> Historic land grant rancho in San Fernando Valley, California

Rancho Los Encinos was a Spanish grazing concession, and later Mexican land granted cattle and sheep rancho and travelers way-station on the El Camino Real in the San Fernando Valley, in present-day Encino, Los Angeles County, California. The original 19th-century adobe and limestone structures and natural Encino Springs are now within the Los Encinos State Historic Park.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">History of the San Fernando Valley</span> Aspect of history

The history of the San Fernando Valley from its exploration by the 1769 Portola expedition to the annexation of much of it by the City of Los Angeles in 1915 is a story of booms and busts, as cattle ranching, sheep ranching, large-scale wheat farming, and fruit orchards flourished and faded. Throughout its history, settlement in the San Fernando Valley was shaped by availability of reliable water supplies and by proximity to the major transportation routes through the surrounding mountains.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cahuenga, California</span> Human settlement in California, United States

Cahuenga ( or "place of the hill" is a former Tongva–Tataviam Native American settlement in the San Fernando Valley of Los Angeles, Los Angeles County, California. One source suggests kawe means mountain in Tongva language. Recent linguistic work suggests an alternative meaning of "place of the fox". The Tongva-language suffix -nga indicates place, and the suffix -bet or -bit indicates person from place; people from Cahuenga were recorded in mission registers as Capuebet.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hahamongna, California</span>

Hahamongna and Hahamog-na are historic Tongva villages located in the Verdugo Mountains of Southern California named after the local Tongva band's name Hahamog'na. The village sites are located in present-day Pasadena and Glendale in Los Angeles County, California. Hahamongna was one of the largest Tongva villages in the greater San Fernando Valley area, along with Cahuenga, Tujunga, and Siutcanga.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tuyunga</span>

Tuyunga or Tujunga is a former Tongva (Fernandeño) village now located at Sunland-Tujunga, Los Angeles in Los Angeles County, California. The village was located near the original Rancho Los Encinos that became the Mission San Fernando Rey de España in the San Fernando Valley.

Momonga was a Tongva village located at what is now Chatsworth, Los Angeles, California in the San Fernando Valley. The village may have been located in the area now referred to as Stoney Point. The village was located near the village of Ashaawanga, also associated with the Chatsworth area.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Siutcanga</span>

Siutcanga, alternatively spelled Syútkanga, was a Tataviam and Tongva village that was located in what is now Los Encinos State Historic Park near the site of a natural spring. The traditional trading route which the village relied on to flourish is now the street known as Ventura Boulevard. The Fernandeño Tataviam Band of Mission Indians organization has indicated that the majority of their members descend from the village and maintain a deep relationship to the site. People of the village are known as Siutcavitam.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Encino Hot Springs</span> Thermal springs

Encino Hot Springs are historic thermal springs located at the site of Siutcanga village, a settlement of the Tongva-Kizh people of the area now known as Southern California. It was used by several tribes of Indigenous peoples for thousands of years. Later, after settlement, the artesian springs were used as a water source for Rancho Los Encinos in what is now the San Fernando Valley region of Los Angeles County, California. In the 1880s it was a rest stop on the Butterfield Stagecoach route. The springs are located in the modern-day Los Encinos State Historic Park.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Vicente de la Osa</span> Californio landowner (1808–1861)

Vicente de la Osa was a Californio city official, tavern owner, and cattle rancher who owned Rancho Providencia and Rancho Los Encinos in what is now the San Fernando Valley area of Southern California in the United States.

References

  1. ↑ "Los Encinos State Historic Park". Office of Historic Preservation, California State Parks. Retrieved 2012-10-07.
  2. ↑ "California State Park System Statistical Report: Fiscal Year 2009/10" (PDF). California State Parks. p. 16. Retrieved 2013-12-08.
  3. ↑ Johnson, John R. "Ethnohistoric Overview for the Santa Susana Pass State Historic Park Cultural Resources Inventory Project" (PDF). Retrieved 19 July 2020.
  4. ↑ Crosby, Michael (2009-06-08). Encino. Arcadia Publishing. ISBN   978-1-4396-2316-9.
  5. ↑ Harris, Scott (1996-09-24). "HISTORY: The Battle That May Have Saved the Nation". The Los Angeles Times. p. 30. Retrieved 2023-11-01.
  6. ↑ "Amestoy Rancho Historic Landmark". Valley Times. 1950-07-28. p. 9. Retrieved 2023-11-01.
  7. 1 2 Waring, Gerald Ashley (January 1915). Springs of California. Water-Supply Paper no. 338–339 (Department of the Interior, United States Geological Survey Water-Supply Papers). Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office. pp. 246–247. Retrieved 2023-11-01– via HathiTrust.
  8. ↑ Anderson, Winslow (1890). Mineral Springs and Health Resorts of California: With a Complete Chemical Analysis of Every Important Mineral Water in the World. Bancroft Company. p. 194.
  9. ↑ "The Los Angeles Times 03 Aug 1969, page 207". Newspapers.com. Retrieved 2023-11-01.
  10. ↑ Recreation, California Department of Parks and (1978). Los Encinos State Historic Park: Resource Management Plan. State of California, Resources Agency, Department of Parks and Recreation. p. 178.
  11. ↑ "AN ETHNOBOTANY OF BAJA CALIFORNIA'S KUMEYAAY" (PDF). 2012. pp. 72–73.
  12. ↑ "Burial Ground Indicated: Encino Hot Springs Scene of Discovery". The Los Angeles Times. 1925-11-03. p. 25. Retrieved 2023-11-01.
  13. ↑ "Many Inspect Features of Encino Hot Springs Resort". The Van Nuys News and Valley Green Sheet. 1922-08-11. p. 1. Retrieved 2023-11-01.
  14. ↑ "He Says Jersey Giants Best Fryers". The Los Angeles Times. 1928-03-04. p. 143. Retrieved 2023-11-01.
  15. ↑ californiahistoricallandmarks.com 689, Los Encinos State Historic Park
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.