Juan Matias Sanchez Adobe

Located in Montebello, CA at 946 North Adobe Avenue, Juan Matias Sanchez Adobe is home to a collection of historical artifacts that reflect the culture and lifestyle of the mid-1800s. Now functioning as a museum, this adobe is open to the public and is managed by the Montebello Historical Society.

The history of the Sanchez family began in 1842 when a young couple named Maria Luisa Archuleta de Martinez and her husband, Rafael arrived from New Mexico to explore the California Gold Fields. They settled in the area and eventually became part owners of a 2,363 Mexican Land Grant known as Rancho La Merced between 1852–1885.

Maria and Rafael were married in 1842 in Taos, NM and were among the first settlers to arrive in the San Gabriel Valley. They partnered with a fellow New Mexican, Juan Matias Sanchez, to search for gold in the Santa Fe Springs area.

Once they found gold, the two partners, along with William Workman, were able to purchase an eighty-three acre diamond shaped tract called Potrero Chico (Little Pasture Land). They also purchased a 4,431 acre rancho called Rancho Potrero Grande, one of the original ranchos belonging to the San Gabriel Mission.

When they were successful, the two friends arranged for their lands to be patented in the United States. They also negotiated a loan from William Temple, the other owner of the rancho, to shore up the bank they owned together.

With their wealth, the two friends purchased an adobe in the vicinity of their land grants. This adobe became their home and remains today as the Juan Matias Sanchez Adobe.

The adobe was originally built with a stone exterior and wood interior. It later was extended to include wooden additions with a total of 20 rooms.

In the early 1900s, General Edward Kirkpatrick purchased the adobe and remodeled it. The adobe eventually became the Hotel San Pedro, which was a popular stop for tourists traveling on the Ocean Shore Railroad. It also served as a speakeasy during Prohibition, with whiskey stills hidden in the nearby artichoke fields.

After Kirkpatrick’s death in 1908, the adobe was purchased by the Scott Family and used as their home. Josephine Scott married Roy Crocker and Mary Kathern Chase was married to Hanry Geyer at the adobe.

The adobe remains as a reminder of the lives and times of Dona Casilda Soto de Lobo and the Juan Matias Sanchez family. The adobe now functions as a museum, where visitors can see the significance of the ranching community in this region and learn about their lives.

A number of important members of the local community have made a significant contribution to the preservation of the Juan Matias Sanchez Adobe Museum and the broader history of Montebello. We would like to extend a special thank you to Norma Lambo, former Board Member of the Montebello Historical Society and the founding mother of the museum.

Norma was a dedicated volunteer who contributed to the preservation of the Sanchez Adobe for future generations. She was a key figure in the creation of the Montebello Historical Society in 1971 and co-founded the Ashiya Sister City Association that operates as a cultural exchange program between Montebello and Ashiya, Japan. Her dedication to the Juan Matias Sanchez Adobe and the Montebello community will be remembered for years to come.

Related posts:

A large number of sites on the Internet are built with WordPress. With that in mind, adding a CRM to WordPress results in increased productivity. Without further ado, this tutorial talks about…

The humanists have been hailing this as a significant transition in the movement for the rights of the non-religious in the area of partnerships. There was a failure to have the current ban declared…

Self-reflection is like looking into a mirror and describing what you see. It is a way of assessing yourself, your ways of working, and how you study. To put it simply ‘reflection’ means to think…