Historic homes and buildings on Los Rios Street

Oldest Neighborhood in California, Los Rios District
The Combs House	The Ramos House
The Mary Wandell House	The Labat Houses
The English House	Montanez Adobe
Jailhouse	Rios Adobe
Olivares House
The Rodman House	Ito Nursery
O'Neill Museum-Pryor House
The Los Rios Historic District is an example of neighborhood life at the turn of the century and before, and is continuing as the oldest neighborhood in California. It was not that long ago that the streets were dirt. The large trees at the lot corners were used to denote property boundaries, and many go as far back as the beginning of European settlement in the area. There are about 40 homes, which vary in age from 50 to 204 years old. Most of the homes are private dwellings and may be viewed only from the street-please respect residents' privacy. The Montanez Adobe, the O'Neill Museum, the Ramos House Cafe, the Lobo House, the Rodman House, and the Lupe Combs House are businesses and are open to the public during business hours. The Olivares House is Millie Jones' china painting studio. Think of what life must have been like during the long period when the original mission, its' outbuildings and the Great Stone Church were being built. It was a time when the Spanish and the Acjachemen Indians were beginning to merge their cultures. The Montanez, the Rios, and the Silvas adobes are all that remain on Los Rios Street of the about 40 adobes that were here at that time. This neighborhood was then the home of the mission builders and workers on the mission ranch, for the economy was centered around the mission. A second significant wave of homes, was built by European immigrants to the area in the late 1800s and early 1900s. Although this area was always a West Coast "melting pot," one significant thing was that a large group of Basques from the Pyrenees Mountains settled here at that time. Included among those immigrants is the Lacouague family. The San Juan Capistrano community of earlier times was much larger than it is today. The Los Rios neighborhood played an important role in California's history. River Street, part of the Ito Nursery land is an unimproved road 600 feet long and 25 feet wide. It starts at Los Rios Street and goes west to Trabuco Creek. It used to cross Trabuco Creek and extend all the way to Dana Point, approximately four miles west. Early settlers of the Los Rios District used this road to go to the beach and San Juan Bay (now called Dana Point Harbor). Cowhides were carted from this processing area at the mission down the road to the cliff tops for the shipment to the East Coast. Today, only 600 feet of the original road is left. Written by Jan Bolen and Sheree Ito