The SJC Historical Society hosted a Vintage Pop Up Market on Saturday, April 17, 2021 from 10am to 3pm, on the museum grounds at 31831 Los Rios St, San Juan Capistrano, CA 92675-3115. Call 949-493-8444 for more information
The SJC Historical Society was recently featured in The Capistrano Dispatch with a piece detailing some of the city’s rich history. View the feature here.
The Historical Society has Thousands of photos archived. You can view many of our favorites on this SmugMug site. In addition you can purchase from the site and have the photos printed and delivered to your home or business.
CLICK THE BELOW TO ACCESS PHOTOS:
SJC Historical Society SmugMug
Many individuals and businesses have been buying copies of the Society’s photo collection since it was established. Family Toyota on Camino Capistrano has the largest collection of these photos which are 24″ x 36″ in size. Mollie’s Famous Café has a large number also. Anyone interested in purchasing copies should contact the Society at (949) 493-8444. Prices vary by size.
The Society also has panorama photos which are 8 inches by 3 feet in size. These are special orders and take a bit longer to process.
Welcome to Spring. On Saturday April 17, 2021 the Historical Society will open an exhibit on vintage hats and accessories. The hats are from Monique Rae’s collection which she has generously donated to the Society. For many years Monique participated in living history at the Mission and at other events in San Juan Capistrano. Her outfits were perfectly presented by not only her dresses, but in the hats, gloves, and parasols. We are fortunate to have been given the opportunity to share this amazing collection with the public.
The exhibit will available through June. It can be viewed in the windows of the Leck House and Silvas Adobe.
The Historical Society gives tours every Saturday at 1:00 pm starting at the train depot. Tours last about 45 minutes and include the Society’s own collection of historic structures as well as other homes in the Los Rios District. As the oldest, continuously inhabited street in California, Los Rios Street is a charming neighborhood with a colorful history.
Tours travel through back through history and include centuries-old adobes, 19th century board and batten homes, and more. The Society’s collection includes the Garcia/Pryor House (a beautiful Victorian), the Leck House (a lovely Craftsman from the region’s agricultural era), and the recently restored Silvas Adobe. Every building has its story to tell, and our guides are eager to share them.
Tours are also available by appointment for groups of 5 or more. For more information, or to set up a tour, please email us at info@sjchistory.org or call 949-493-8444.
Love San Juan Capistrano’s unique history?
Volunteer as a walking tour guide! Tours are offered on Saturdays at 1 p.m. from the train depot to the Historical Society museum. You’ll share the history of Los Rios Street and share stories about the museum and other buildings on the grounds. Training provided. Tours take about 45 minutes and you would give a tour about once every 5 or 6 weeks. Schedule flexible. Call, text or email Ann Ronan, 949-702-3977, ann@sjctravel.com
The San Juan Historical Society continues to expand to create the Los Rios Historical Center. In addition to the O’Neill Museum located in the Garcia/Pryor House, the Center currently includes the Arley Leck house, the Silvas Adobe and the tiny Oyharzabal building.
These homes will become Museums for historic depictions, archival resources, gallery exhibits and special events. Contributions for this program would be most appreciated.
In the early 1990s the Society began its Archive Program. The archives include the more than 6,000 plus photo collection, library, genealogical records, oral histories, artifacts and general files. The archives are located at the museum and are available to researchers, media and students. The Historical Society is always interested in acquiring contributions of photos and other items of unique history from San Juan Capistrano and the surrounding area for preservation. Funds for the support of preserving contributions are always greatly appreciated.
Preserving the pictorial history of San Juan Capistrano and the area around it is the purpose of the Photo Preservation Program. The Historical Society has over 6,000 photos in its archives and continues to receive pictures from the local citizens. These photos are copied so that the Society has a negative of the photo, and then is mounted either on large 11 x 14 mats and placed in bins or are mounted and placed in albums. The photos are placed in archival material for handling and mats and the corners used in the albums are all archival material. This way photos can be handled without causing damage. Many students, newspapers, and researchers use these photos for their work.
Copies of the San Juan Capistrano Historical Society’s photograph collection are available for purchase by contacting the Society at (949) 493-8444. Panorama photos are also available (8 inches by 36 inches) by special order. Prices on all photos vary by size.
Click the link below to view the Historical Society Archive:
The Historical Society raised funds to create the Richard Henry Dana statue in the Dana Point Harbor. With the help of the Mission Docents, funds were raised for the restoration of the Father Serra and Indian boy statue at Mission San Juan Capistrano. A bronze plaque in the Sacred Garden at the Mission was placed to honor Paul Arbiso, bell ringer of the mission for more than 60 years. Mr. Arbiso was also the Patriarch of the City of San Juan for 23 years.
The Society is presently raising funds to develop the Los Rios Historic Center, consisting of the O’Neill Museum, Leck House, Silvas Adobe and an old board and batten house on the property.
The Garcia/Pryor residence, now known as the O’Neill Museum, was built between 1870 and 1880 by Jose Garcia, a saloon owner, for his wife, Refugio Yorba. It was one of the first frame houses in San Juan Capistrano and was originally located on the lot directly behind the present El Adobe de Capistrano Restaurant. Unfortunately, Garcia was murdered in 1896 by a man known as Mestizo”, who was tried and convicted. He was sentenced to hang, but the sentence was reduced to life in prison. This sentence was also reduced and he was free in a few years. A story circulated in town that several prominent citizens wanted the land at Forster and Camino Capistrano streets on which Garcia’s saloon was located and had paid “Mestizo” to kill Garcia. Nothing was ever proven against any of the town’s citizens.
In 1903 Albert Pryor purchased the house from the Garcia family and he and his family lived there until 1955. Pryor spent many hours on the porch of the house, watching the children and the trains. He suffered a bad stroke in the middle fifties and the house was rented periodically. The “ghost” of Albert Pryor was supposed to sit on the porch occasionally and smoke a cigar. This usually frightened the tenants away.
Finally, in 1976, the Cornwell family, who owned the El Adobe Restaurant at that time, donated the building to the San Juan Capistrano Historical Society. The Society raised funds in order to move the house across the railroad tracks to a new location on Los Rios Street. The property was leased from the Oyharzabal family who has since donated the property to the Society. With lots of sweat, blisters, and aching joints the members of the Society restored the house and furnished it with period furniture. The cost was over $100,000. The O’Neill family donated $60,000 and the Society raised matching funds. The building became know as the O’Neill Museum in honor of Marguerite O’Neill, revered member of the O’Neill family who kept Rancho Mission Viejo from being sold.
The house was originally constructed as a four-room home with no bath or kitchen (most cooking was done outdoors). About 1895 a bathroom was created in the back bedroom, closets were made from space in the front bedroom and other alterations were made. In the 1920s the kitchen was added although it still did not include a stove.
Today the Museum also is the San Juan Capistrano Historical Society headquarters and the center of all its archives of photos, books, documents, maps, genealogical records, oral histories and much more.