Historic landmarks often find themselves lost to time as memories fade, buildings deteriorate and people move on. Fortunately, the Campo de Cahuenga’s place in history has endured — thanks to the dedicated passion and enthusiasm of historians and local residents who advocated for its preservation as the site where California’s Spanish past merged with America’s western expansion to inspire the building of our bustling state.
For hundreds of years, native Gabrielino–Tongva tribes roamed the San Fernando Valley, hunting, fishing and growing crops. When Spanish missionaries constructed the San Fernando Mission in 1797, they took control of the area, using the lands around the Campo for cattle grazing. Per research by historians hired by the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (LACMTA), the Campo’s small adobe was probably constructed by the mission for use by its employees around the turn of the 19th century. After Mexico gained independence from Spain and secularized the California missions, the land was granted to Andrés Pico before being sold to Eulogio de Celis in 1846.
At this time, Americans and Californios fought a war within what was then Alta California for control of the territory, with Commodore Robert F. Stockton and Brigadier Stephen W. Kearny conquering Los Angeles on January 10, 1847. Lieutenant Colonel John C. Frémont and troops at the San Fernando Mission took control of the Valley. Recognizing defeat, Pico agreed to surrender, with Jose Antonio Carrillo writing the Articles of Capitulation in both English and Spanish. Frémont and Pico met at the Campo de Cahuenga on January 13 to sign the Capitulation of Cahuenga, which ended hostilities in California and eventually led to it being ceded to the United States when the war ended the following year. Though negotiated without the knowledge or approval of either the U.S. or Mexican governments, the treaty was later honored by both countries.
Over the next several decades, the Campo and its lands served a variety of purposes. It hosted Santa Barbara volunteers of Company C marching to Wilmington in 1864 to join the Union cause during the Civil War; served as a stop on the Butterfield Overland Stage route between San Francisco and Tipton, Missouri, beginning in 1858; and possibly served as a fourth-class post office in the 1880s.
At the turn of the 20th century, two men stepped forward to advocate for preserving the little adobe. L.A. school principal and historian J.M. Guinn promoted the importance of the Campo in an 1897 speech. Contrasting it with how another historic treaty signing — between Pennsylvania founder William Penn and Chief Tamanend of the Lenni-Lenape nation in 1683 — had been honored, he stated, “The site of Penn’s elm is marked by a fitting monument, and if state pride or some other motive should ever induce our legislators to erect a monument on the spot where the treaty of Cahuenga was made it would be a fitting tribute to an almost forgotten benefactor of our state — John C. Fremont.” Five years later, South Pasadena archaeological collector Horatio Rust took Guinn’s recommendations one step further, winning California legislative approval for state recognition of the site, only to see Governor Henry Gage veto the bill.
Perhaps Rust’s legislation failed due to the building’s crumbling walls. In a brochure later issued by the Campo de Cahuenga Memorial Association, J.M. Miller wrote, “By 1900, the old Feliz [sic] adobe had disintegrated and disappeared, and the historic events it represented were memories in but a few minds of those who had taken part in that great drama.” New owners constructed a small animal hospital of several buildings on the site at that time, which stood in 1902 when Rust proposed his legislation.
The efforts were revived 20 years later, when Harrye Rebecca Piper Forbes discovered the original copy of the Treaty of Cahuenga at the Bancroft Library in 1923 and advocated for state recognition of the Campo. Working with the newly established California History and Landmarks Club, the Daughters of the Golden West and the Ebell Club, Forbes convinced Los Angeles to purchase the site in May. On February 2, 1924, it was renamed Fremont–Pico Memorial Park and a bronze plaque praising its historic importance was unveiled.
The WPA Guide to the City of Angels published in the 1930s described the site and its pink stucco buildings: “The half-acre plot, with pepper and olive trees, wistaria vines, and trellised roses in its center, is a Los Angeles park. Flanking the boulevard entrance stand two one-story adobes of recent construction, one containing a small collection of historic relics.” With the museum addition, it was named California State Historic Landmark #151 on January 11, 1935. In 1940, the Ramona Parlor of the Native Sons of the Golden West took over caretaking duties for a short time, but it closed again soon after.
In February 1946, the San Fernando Valley Historical Society revived a campaign to restore and preserve the still-closed park by attempting to gain it national landmark status. While that effort failed, it launched the Recreation and Parks Commission into action for actually completing a true museum. The Los Angeles Times ran proposed plans in January 1947 that were nearly identical to today’s Campo building, designed by Spencer and Landon. Original palms and the pool were retained, while the old buildings were demolished in 1949 for construction of the $35,000 community clubhouse and historic center. The new structure opened November 2, 1950, and on January 14, 1951, the SFVHS unveiled historic paintings and a sundial honoring Frémont’s wife, writer and activist Jessie Benton Frémont, and rededicated the 1924 marker. The City of Los Angeles finally named the site Historic Cultural Landmark #29 on November 13, 1964.
Universal Studios recognized the picturesque atmosphere of the Campo and its little museum over the years, employing it as a photographic backdrop several times. In 1927, starlets Barbara Worth and Mona Ray posed in front of Frémont’s actual stagecoach and carriage for a Times photo. Thirty years later, rising star Rock Hudson struck a confident pose in front of the recently constructed museum and its fountain for the studio.
Even underground, the Campo is celebrated for its history. The LACMTA filled its new subway stations with art when they opened in 2000. Sitting directly under the historic location, the Universal City/Studio City subway station tells California’s history through becoming part of the U.S. at the site, employing beautiful glazed tile created by artist Margaret Garcia.
During excavation work for the subway station, historians discovered original foundations, floor tiles and walls in the soil. These historic footprints were honored and recognized with embedded stones and colored concrete on sidewalks, tiles and the street, revealing the large area of the adobe and its outbuildings. The Campo itself enjoyed renovation, upgraded with displays and artifacts explaining its importance to California and U.S. history as well as the area’s evolution over centuries. The museum is open three days a week, and an annual ceremony continues to honor the date of the treaty signing.
Opportunity and new beginnings mark the history of the Campo de Cahuenga, bridging the distance between the rural past and today’s urban oasis. Two unique communities, Studio City and Toluca Lake, straddle the location, both artfully blending history with modern success. Thanks to a village of people who have recognized and celebrated its importance, the Campo proudly honors the auspicious spot where California joined the United States and began its long journey to becoming an economic powerhouse.
