Before this land became a rancho, Native Americans inhabited the land. The name of the rancho was Rancho Los Cerritos. It was a beautiful adobe building built in 1844, used for cattle ranching. We got to go on a tour of the house and the grounds, just my husband, the docent and I. It was so neat to see and learn so much history about California. The property was later bought in 1866 and was used for sheep ranching. The adobe was covered and the building was given a more modern look. They left some of the original adobe in tact, which was super cool to see. The building underwent a remodel in 1930 and was eventually donated to the City of Long Beach.
We found out after the tour that there was another rancho nearby. So we decided to go and see it. Turns out, it's about 10 minutes from our house and right next to the college we both graduated from. We never knew either of these ranchos existed! This rancho was called Rancho Los Alamitos. We got to take a tour of the incredible garden before we went on the house tour. It was originally used for cattle ranching and was also made out of adobe. It was built in the early 1800's. The second owner had to sell the ranch when a two year drought killed most of his cattle. The adobe building was deteriorating when the third owner bought it in 1878. With his wife, they fixed the building and turned it into a home and created beautiful gardens all around the property. It was still used as a ranch. The building and grounds stayed in the family until 1960, when it was donated to the City of Long Beach.
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