San Luis Obispo County CA Archives Photo Place.....Caledonia Adobe 
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File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by:
Joy Fisher sdgenweb@yahoo.com November 23, 2006, 10:08 pm

Source:             Discovering San Luis Obispo County
Photo can be seen at:
http://www.usgwarchives.net/ca/sanluisobispo/photos/caledoni46gph.jpg
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THE CALEDONIA ADOBE San Miguel, California

History and Description:

The Caledonia Adobe in San Miguel was built between 1830 and 1846 by Petronillo
Rios.  It is generally felt that the labor was furnished by neophyte Indians,
and they would have been Salinans, from nearby Mission San Miguel Arcangel.

Senor Rios and his family later moved to an adobe in what is now Templeton.  It
is generally supposed that their move was prompted by the murder of the Read
family in the old mission in 1848.

The adobe on the El Camino Real stood empty for awhile until it was sold to W.
B. Busherd who named it Caledonia. The word means "welcome".  It served as an
inn and stage stop and was a busy spot for many years.

In 1886, the train crew arrived that was building the Southern Pacific Railroad.
 Then the Caledonia knew lively times and dances were given on Saturday nights
to which the whole countryside came.  When the railroad men moved on the adobe
was used for many things - a store, a tavern and a saloon, a school and a post
office.

Finally, the Caledonia was deserted until the Nygren family lived there and
brought it back to life around 1903.  But when they left after several decades,
the building became derelict again.

Charles Dorries bought the Caledonia in 1923.  He was conscious of the rich
historical past of the two story adobe and began to collect memorabilia for a
little house museum.  He it was who built the little adjoining store and a gift
house to attract tourists on the El Camino Real that was now pulsating with
automobiles. After some years he was forced to abandon his project because of
poor health.  After his death the adobe was deserted.  The tile was removed from
the roof and one corner of the building began to go.

Passers-by watched in anguish as the building began to crumble but one brave
group, formed of local historians who called themselves "Friends of the Adobe",
did something about it in the late 1960's.  They induced the county of San Luis
Obispo to put a large raised projecting canopy roof over the whole structure to
protect it from the rains.  With a series of fund raising projects the building
is being saved - the corner and one wall has been rebuilt with adobes which they
themselves made.  They have been collecting furniture of the period and intend
to refurnish it authentically after the restoration is complete.

Hats off to the Friends of the Adobe for preserving a bit of California history
on the Royal Road through San Luis Obispo County in 1971.



Additional Comments:
Extracted from

Discovering San Luis Obispo County
by
Carleton M. Winslow

File at: http://files.usgwarchives.net/ca/sanluisobispo/photos/caledoni46gph.txt

This file has been created by a form at http://www.genrecords.org/cafiles/

File size: 3.3 Kb