Hubert H. Bancroft Ranch House

Hubert H. Bancroft Ranch House is a historic structure in Spring Valley, California. The property also contains a natural spring, named El aguaje de San Jorge (St. George's Spring) by the Spanish, after which the community of Spring Valley is named.It is the first Anglo-American structure in Spring Valley and was built by Augustus Ensworth in 1856 out of timbers salvaged from a shipwreck in San Diego Bay. Upon Enworth's death, the property was sold in 1865 to Rufus King Porter, son of the founder of Scientific American. Porter added a kitchen, a dining room, and two bedrooms. He later sold the property to historian Hubert Howe Bancroft in 1885. Bancroft built a more comfortable home up the hill from the adobe ranch house and a rock school house for his children, now located across the street.The building is now a museum and storehouse for artifacts of Spring Valley history. The property was registered as a California Historical Landmark in 1958, and then declared a National Historic Landmark in 1962.