11/29/2000
11/29/2000
Landmark information
- Location:
Camp Pendleton, Oceanside - Plaque:
Official State Plaque - Site:
Existing - Date First Visited:
11/29/2000 - Date Most Recently Visited:
11/29/2000 - GPS Coordinates:
N 33 18.484, W 117 20.48 - Other Designations:
National Register of Historic Places
About this landmark
Plaque text:
Santa Margarita Ranch
In July, 1769, the Portola expedition named this area for St. Margaret of Antioch. The Mission San Luis Rey 1827 inventories list a small building in the area. In 1841, Rancho Santa Margarita Y San Onofre was granted to Andres and Pio Pico, the last governor of Alta California. Land magnate, Don Juan Forster, owned the rancho from 1864-1882. Richard O'Neill and James Flood purchased 205,000 acres in 1882. The ranch house stop served the 1882 transcontinental California Southern railroad. In 1942, President Frankiln D. Roosevelt dedicated Marine Corps Base Camp Joseph H. Pendleton. The railroad line continued as a vital military transportation link before devastation by the 1993 flood.