Pio Pico Mansion, Whittier, California

This mansion is the centerpiece of the Pio Pico State Historic Park, and the home of Alta California's last Mexican Governor, Pio de Jesus Pico IV. Pico first constructed an adobe ranch home on the site, known as El Ranchito, around 1853. The structure was almost completely redone after floods nearly destroyed it in 1882. The site was purchased in by Harriet Williams Russel Strong, who had known Pico from 1867 until his death in 1894. Strong restored the building in 1909. The property was conveyed to the State in 1917, and was designated one of the California's first State Historic Parks in 1927.

Identification Number: F3254:80 (1)