Higuera Adobe - Fremont, CA - Signs of History on Waymarking.com

Preservation Efforts, The Land Developer, and Reconstruction of the Higuera Adobe The adobe slowly deteriorated . and a large crack developed in an end wall. The roof caved in, exposing the vulnerable adobe bricks which began to disintegrate. Local historian and preservationist, Robert B. Fisher M.D., raised an alarm, and in 1970 volunteers erected a temporary roof over the adobe that was made of canvas and suspended between telephone poles. took 50 davs to them to donate about twenty acres reconstructing the building. The of land for the Rancho Higuera Historical Park and requested that surviving portions of the wall were they fund the restoration of the taken down and, where possible, Higuera Adobe. the original adobe bricks were reused. The 7.500 adobe bricks were: made by hand on su In 1977 the City of Fremont Jacquee Cook and Alberta Nunes contracted with architect Gil Several years later, when George, owners of the Sand Sanchez to restore the adobe. Ponderosa Homes developed the Workers made 7,500 new, sun- Fleas Workshop, handcrafted the redwood, period-style furniture for property, the city negotiated with dried adobe bricks onsite for the adobe. BY 1979 the Higuera Adobe had been authentically reconstructed on its original foundation. On September 30, the Goularte family gathered, along with local historians, residents and civic officials, to celebrate with a colorful dedication ceremony. Today the adobe stands as a silent sentinel from the past. Memories of the people who once lived and worked here and loved this land slowly fade, but their legacy lives on.

The Curtner, the Silva and the Goularte Families Henry Curtner, an enterprising American, arrived at Mission San Jose in 1852. He worked for farmers in the area. In 1856 Curtner returned home to Indiana to marry Lydia Kendall. By 1868 he was able to purchase the portion of Rancho Agua Caliente that included the adobe. He continued to buy adjoining properties until he owned over 6,000 acres from "Mission Peak to the Bay." He hired James Leitch, a skilled carpenter, and others to build Henry Curtner, for whom Curtner Road a new ranch house, a bunkhouse, a slaughterhouse, barns for storing hay, barns for horses and dairy barns. They built a concrete building where milk was cooled and processed and added a lean-to shed to the adobe. In 1869 the Curtners built a large, redwood, Italianate, seventeen-room mansion on the James Leitch, a skilled carpenter, helped lower portion of their -um of Local History) property (modern address is 45588 Wabana Common). They had six sons and two daughters. After Henry died in 1917, his son Arthur inherited the ranch and moved into the mansion From 1904 to 1918, the Joe Silva family , moved into the ranch house an leased this property as a dairy farm. Each morning Manuel Silva rented the dairy farm from the can? they took Muscum on vocal history) the milk in10-gallon cans to the Warm The Silva child «He ouva children with a eteo barn in the background. avauscum or Local History Springs Train Depot, which was on the southwest corner of present-day Warm Springs Boulevard and Warren Avenue. The "Peanut Train," a small freight train This wagon, hitched to a horse, was used to deliver milk in large 10-gallon cans. dropped off Museum often empty milk cans from the day before and picked up the filled milk cans and mail sack and delivered them to Oakland. oaquin "Jack" Goularte, an immigrant from the Azores, worked as a foreman for the Curtners. In 1927 he and his wife, Adelaide, purchased this property and moved their growing family into the ranch house. They had many farm animals, including work Dr. Stanley Innes (left) bought the farm from Jack Goularte (right) in 1945 The Goularte family used the Higuera adobe for storage. we horses, saddle (hoto courtesy of Lionel Goularte) horses, milk cows and many calves. In addition to large walnut, prune and apricot orchards, they grew hay and corn and a great variety of vegetables. They The dirt road to the Goularte farm from Curtner Road. (Photo courtesy of Lionel Goularte) sundried the fruit and stored it in the adobe until it could be sold. Apricots were cut, sulphured and on large trays in the held: Many neighboring families helped * Their fifteen (Photo courtesy of Lionel Goulart) children worked hard and enjoyed exploring the hills and playing with friends who lived on neighboring farms. They attended the original Warm Springs The Grammar School, which is gone, and Jack and Adelaide family in 1924, with naren, They later boa ix more children.
to courtesy of Lionel. but its replacement is still on Warm Springs Boulevard. Five Goularte sons served their country during World War II. Unable to find enough help to work the farm, Jack sold it to Dr. Stanley Innes in 1945. Without the care and protection of an onsite owner, the buildings and equipment Three generations of the Goularte family picnic n the 1950s •our on the table suffered. The farmhouse burned down in 1947, and the adobe fell into disrepair.

The Rancho del Asua Caliente and The Hiquera Adobe After the missions were secularized by Mexico, their lands were divided into huge ranchos, which were granted to the "Californios" who had served the Spanish I PAIGNO, DEL AGUA CACIENTE Fulgencio Higuera built several adobes and cattle herds on Rancho del Agua Calient (Museum of Local History) and Mexican governments. In 1836 the lands around this park were granted to Fulgencio Francisco Higuera and his wife, Valentine Map of Rancho del Agua Caliente. (Higuera. Named after the hot springs south of Mission San Jose, Rancho del Agua Caliente (Ranch of the Warm Waters) originally had about 9,000 acres. The ranch supported 12,000 head of cattle, several hundred horses and many sheep. HI The branding iron and the brand believed to have belonged to Fulgencio's grandfather, Ygnacio Higuera, came to California with the Juan Bautista de Anza Expedition in 1776. Fulgencio's father, Jose Higuera, was granted the Rancho Los Tularcitos in 1821. His restored adobe home is located in present-day Milpitas. Some of the olive trees that lined the road from Mission San Jose to Mission Santa Clara still survive near Jose Higuera's adobe. Fulgencio's widowed sister, Marie Josefa Higuera Molina, married Robert Livermore. They lived at Rancho Las Positas, near present-day Livermore, Typical washday at the warm springs. (Watercolor by Nancy Pratt) but once a month she would bring wagonloads of clothes to be washed in the waters of the hot springs while she visited her family. Seven adobes were originally on this rancho. This adobe, built about 1840 for use as a family home, is the only one that survived. It was surrounded by structures common to rancho life, such as corrals, a springhouse (to keep food cool), The restored guera adobe in 1975 (Photo by Philip Holmes) a smokehouse and an outhouse. The Agua Fria (Cold Water) Creek near the adobe and the springs in the hills above provided water. This adobe is sometimes called the Galindo-Higuera Adobe because of its early association with Juan Crisostomo Galindo. He was the son of Nicolas Galindo and Maria Teresa Pinto Galindo who came with the Juan Bautista de Anza Expedition in 1776. He married Ana Maria Jacoba Bernal, and their children married into other prominent Californio families.

The Ohlones and the Mission San Jose The Ohlones were the indigenous people of this area and had a village called Oroysom east of this site. As hunters and gatherers they ranged far and wide. They wove baskets using various roots and willow branches and had lively commerce with other villages. A number of huge stones, some of them eight feet in diameter and each with several grinding holes, were once found along Agua Caliente Creek, which runs through this property. The Ohlones used them to grind acorns gathered from the oak trees that grew in the canyon. Natural springs and creeks provided fresh water. There were edible plants and an abundance of animals, fish and fowl. The natives navigated the bay in boats they built with tule reeds. A large Ohlone burial site was once located near the corner of Curtner Road and Mission Boulevard. The graves were carefully excavated and relocated to the Ohlone Cemetery on Washington Boulevard. After the founding of Mission San Jose at Oroysom on June 11, 1797, this land became part of the vast mission lands. A road shaded by olive trees was built from Mission Santa Clara to the circular steps of Mission San Jose. The Higueras later built their adobe along this road. Portions of it still survive. mission church and other buildings, but their way of life was irrevocably changed. Life in Oroysom changed after the arrival of the Spanish Franciscans. They brought their religion and a new way of life as well as their cattle, horses and European fruits and vegetables. The founding of the mission had some negative consequences for the Ohlones who were brought to live, work and worship there. They learned new skills and built the adobe 1526 water code by I am Smyth of raque Ohlone vaqueros (cowboys) managed the expanding mission cattle herds that roamed the hills and valleys, including this land of the Agua Caliente (Warm Springs). The cattle were a source of wealth for the mission, and later for the ranchos. Ships sailed down the San Francisco Bay to the Mission Embarcadero, near present-day Union City, where they exchanged manufactured goods from the East Coast for the dried hides (leather for shoes) and the tallow (fat for soap and candles) from the cattle. An earthquake on October 21, 1868 destroyed the original 1809 adobe church. It was reconstructed and dedicated on June 11, 1985.

Group that erected the marker: City of Fremont Address of where the marker is located. Approximate if necessary: 47300 Rancho Higuera Rd Fremont, CA USA URL of a web site with more information about the history mentioned on the sign: Not listed

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