click photo for full-size image
photo by Donald Kinney
This classic New England saltbox (two stories in front, one in back) was built by '49er pioneer James Johnston between 1853-1855, for his bride, Petra Maria de Jara.
click photo for full-size image
photo by Donald Kinney
Johnson was one of the first white men to establish a residence in this area. Half-Moon Bay is about 20 miles south of San Francisco. In 1853 Johnson purchased 1,162 acres of Rancho de San Benito for $14,000 with his grand scheme and dream which included this proper Yankee house, to serve as the center of an eastern-style dairy ranch.
click photo for full-size image
photo by Donald Kinney
James Johnston was born October 7, 1813, in Melrose, Scotland. His family immigrated to the United States aboard the Prompt in 1818 and settled in Pittsburgh, PA, then moved to Gallipolis, Ohio, after the death of his father in 1826. One of nine children, James served in the military in the Mexican war, became interested in Mexican culture and sailed to California aboard the Oregon in 1849. He may have worked in the mines, but he was most successful as a partner in the fashionable El Dorado Saloon on San Francisco's Dupont Street (now Grant Avenue) and as a real estate investor. [ source: www.johnstonhouse.org ]
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1 comment:
In all the years we lived in Pacifica, I can't believe we never went to the Johnson House or really learned much about it.
It was always just an interesting building we saw from the road as we went someplace else.
Pity...
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