Built by retired sea-captain Cornelius Jensen and his wife Mercedes Alvarado in the early 1870s, today this historic ranch preserves the rhythm of farm life from a time before even citrus was king. Now just 30-acres of what was once an expansive ranch, Riverside County has set aside an oasis of historic farmland in the ever-growing city of Jurupa Valley. Visitors to our site can wander through our orchards, feed our resident farm animals, or just walk through the historic ranch house.
Cornelius Jensen—a retired sea captain-turned businessman-turned rancher—moved to southern California to marry into the prominent Alvarado family. The Alvarados had lived in what is now California since the 1770s, and when Cornelius met friends of the family in Sacramento (where he was operating a store during the gold rush) he saw an opportunity to integrate into the local Californio, or Hispanic society. Shortly after marrying Mercedes Alvarado in 1854, Cornelius became a prominent member of the community then known as La Placita de los Trujillos, or Agua Mansa just north of today’s Riverside. After a flood in the early 1860s washed the community away, Cornelius and his wife decided to move farther down river. After purchasing property from landowner Louis Rubidoux, Cornelius built the only non-adobe house in the area and moved his family to his new ranch in 1870.
For the next 100 years, members of the Jensen-Alvarado family farmed the land. In the late 1970s, Riverside County acquired the property from descendants and restored the decaying ranch buildings to their former glory. Today, visitors can tour the brick ranch house, outbuildings and large winery, which is now used as an interpretive center.
