Jensen Alvarado Ranch

The Jensen Alvarado Ranch is a historic park and museum in Riverside County, California, USA, and is operated by the Riverside County Regional Park and Open-Space District (RivCo Parks). It can be accessed from 4350 Riverview Drive, Rubidoux or 4307 Briggs Street, Riverside. It was the first kiln-fired brick building built in Riverside County, and is the oldest non-adobe structure in the Inland Empire.HistoryThe Danish sea captain Cornelius Jensen settled in Agua Mansa around 1854 where he ran a store, and he married Californio Mercedes Alvarado soon thereafter. After the Great Flood of 1862, most of the town was destroyed with the exception of the cemetery, the chapel, and Jensen's store. Some years later, Jensen bought a part of the Rubidoux ranch. Jensen and Alvarado bought land in Agua Mansa in 1865.They built their Danish vernacular style home between 1868 and 1870 on a ranch of 300-. Jensen built his home on this land using traditional bricks, having learned from the 1862 flood that adobe bricks dissolve in water. Their home, which served as the area's general store, post office, and stage stop, was built next to the town's chapel. The ranch, valued at one time at approximately $30,000, was the second-most valuable in Riverside County.