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    Dominguez Rancho Adobe Museum

    4.4 (37 reviews)
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    One of the California ranches that you must visit. History abound! The docent starts on the right side of the property and escorts us room by room. Described the families that lived in the home along with descriptions of the items in the rooms. There is also a lovely garden on the left side.

    IC C.

    Beautiful and peaceful place to visit. Full of some much history that few know of. The docent was very knowledgeable too! Definitely recommend this place to visit if your visiting or would like to take a step back into history.

    Lianne K.

    Another winner on the trail of the Passport 2 History. We went to the Carson area to learn about the Dominguez family, which was highly influential in this part of Los Angeles County. The original landholder, Juan Jose Dominguez, was a Spanish soldier who received Rancho San Pedro, a huge land grant from the crown for his service. He didn't have children, so his property passed to his nephew, Cristobal Dominguez. He held the property as a cattle ranch, but never lived there. It was his son, Manuel Dominguez, who began building on the property. Manuel and his wife had six daughters who survived to adulthood. Three of them married successful men and those unions spread the influence of the Dominguez family. The three marriages were to Mr. Carson, Mr. Watson, and Dr. Del Amo. All of those names are well known in the area, giving rise to the naming of the City of Carson, the Del Amo Mall, and the Watson Land Company. The family was successful in keeping the land; receiving a land patent from the United States after Mexico lost the Mexican-American War. This was no small feat, as many original land grants were lost due to lack of proper paperwork, let alone misfortunes like droughts and bad business decisions. All of this is celebrated and explained in guided tours of the Rancho adobe. I had done some reading about the family ahead of time, and learned a lot more from our docent. The adobe is in excellent condition, with rooms showcasing various eras in the history of the family. Three rooms are dedicated to Dolores, Susana, and Victoria, the sisters who married and expanded the family. We just might have to go back to experience their re-creation of the Battle of Dominguez Hill, with re-enactors showcasing the events. It's rare to have battles simulated on the land where original conflicts took place. Taking place in October, our guide highly recommended coming back for it. "The 1846 Battle of Dominguez Hills also know as the Battle of the Old Woman's Gun. In this two day event you will be able to experience the reenactment of the battle as well as the many aspects of life in Southern California during the 1800's and the Mexican-American War."

    The seminary.
    Dino G.

    Looking for something to do on a laid back week end, then visit the Domingquez Rancho Adobe House. After living in the Los Angeles area for many years, I just became aware of this historical site. The Domingquez site is situated just off Alameda Street surrounded by a lovely green property. You cannot see it from the street and it is easy to miss but also easy to get back to. The house is very well maintained and nicely appointed. See website for times of tour. They are free! Our tour guides are very knowledgeable and well-informed and also patient enough to answer all of your questions. There was no rushing through the museum. It's the perfect thing to do on a relaxing day.

    Christine A.

    While I can continually praise them for their free tours and their well-maintained historic beauty spot (for which they've earned this 5-star rating with flying colors), I'll go off-script and review their annual battle reenactment. The Dominguez Rancho was the site of the Mexican-American War battle, Battle of the Old Woman's Gun. The American Navy, in an effort to secure Los Angeles, tried to take the area; however, they encountered a small Mexican force at the rancho. The beauty of it was the Mexicans only had a small cannon, which they hitched to horses and ran it around the grounds, firing it here and there to make the Americans think they were surrounded. Fooled into believing they were facing a larger army, the Americans retreated with their wounded and dead back south. The battle reenactment takes place right on that same battlefield. For all the Civil War reenactments we've got in Southern California, you RARELY -- if EVER -- get to witness a reenactment ON THE SPOT the actual battle occurred. Now, to speak of the reenactment, it's not particularly big. It was about five or six "Mexicans" with about a dozen "Americans" (represented by kids in naval uniforms). The battle wasn't fought with immense ranks (the real battle was a score or so Mexicans versus a couple hundred Americans), so I suppose these small numbers are but a sampling. The Mexicans did fire off a cannon during the reenactment (photo: http://www.yelp.com/biz_photos/dominguez-rancho-adobe-museum-rancho-dominguez?select=Q4EjAXg0x6pEJZQ8TaKIaw#IDB8NrvzvsYiiTL7roUP7w), though it stayed in the same place throughout the battle. One of the men on their side kept shouting, "Go home, Yankee!" The kids didn't shoot any guns (photo: http://www.yelp.com/biz_photos/dominguez-rancho-adobe-museum-rancho-dominguez?select=Q4EjAXg0x6pEJZQ8TaKIaw#167w0LdjvWqtMoSZgQJILw), but just stood there with the occasional one falling down and pretending to be dead. Aside from the battle, there were different tents set up for vendors as well as reenactors for exhibiting life in the 1800s. There were also several activities for the kids, of which there were many as the event had many of the cadets from a local military academy. These little warriors lined the perimeter of the battlefield, keeping people from entering and asked for donations for the event in the parking lot. For the fact that you get to re-witness history right where it happened, I highly recommend checking this event out when it happens again in October.

    The railroads near the museum grounds
    Eriko P.

    I came here for a jazz concert, not the actual museum and was so surprised in a good way. The property is adjacent to the commercial railroads and one can hear the trains from the museum grounds. It was a beautiful Saturday afternoon and I had no idea there was such a beautiful home, museum, and such great history here. The Dominquez Rancho Adobe Museum hosts various Garden classes, Nature Craft Classes, bird walk, Monarch Butterfly tracking classes, as well as outdoor live music concerts! My review will be about the great docent tour I had with Brian, the docent. He took us through each room, sharing the history from the beginning where the first Dominguez arrived in 1784 to Juan Jose Dominguez, 75, 000 acres to the 1930s where the descendants upgraded, changed the original adobe home to it's present museum state today. It was such a fascinating family history as well as a Southern California history. This homestead began as a place where cows and sheep grazed and hosting travelers for a place to rest on their journeys, to fighting for Mexican land, to California land to oil and aerospace industry. The southbay would not be here if it were not for the Dominguez, Del Amo, Watson, Carson families. Do these names sound familiar? I highly recommend this tour through this beautiful home.

    George O.

    We visited this location on a Saturday and we attended the 2pm tour. The tour lasted approximately 30 minutes. There are no fees to enter the ranch or for the tours. There is a gift shop at the end of the tour. The only way to enter the adobe is with a tour guide but you can walk the garden area freely. Very nice well kept adobe museum and very nice staff. Expect to spend approximately 1-2 hours at this location.

    LaShon R.

    I had the pleasure of visiting the Adobe and learning about the history of the Southbay when I visited Saturday afternoon. Our docent was Brian and since my husband and I were the only ones there for the 2 pm tour it was especially nice. My opinion of the adobe is jaded by the fact that I visited the other adobes in Long Beach first and both of those are better maintained than Rancho San Pedro. The adobe itself is in good shape but the grounds could use some extra TLC. With that said it was still nice to learn about the history of the area and that there was an actual battle that was fought on the grounds in 1846 as part of the Mexican-American War. In the future I looked forward to attending one of their many monthly events.

    Beautifully decorated rooms.

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    Thank you for your review, Alma! We're so glad you enjoyed your visit.

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    Ask the Community - Dominguez Rancho Adobe Museum

    Is the tour handicap accessible? My mother is 93 and needs a wheel chair.

    Hello Mae! Our tour is handicap accessible, and can accommodate most wheelchairs and scooters. Hope to see you soon!

    Could you have a picnic on the grass?

    The site is private property. Unless you are there for a scheduled tour time, you are not allowed to roam or be on the grounds.

    Do I have to purchase tickets to visit this museum? Thanks in advance!!

    No admission fee is required.

    Don’t See Your Question? Ask Away!

    Review Highlights - Dominguez Rancho Adobe Museum

    The southbay would not be here if it were not for the Dominguez, Del Amo, Watson, Carson families.

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