‘A place of peace and happiness:’ Former teacher is still sharing lessons about a historic property that once belonged to her family
Doris McKently spent her career teaching students in Glendale schools. Long since retired from the district, the 96-year-old still enjoys teaching children about one of Glendale’s most historic locations, the Catalina Verdugo Adobe.
From McKently’s home next door to the adobe, she keeps a watchful eye on the historic property that belonged to her family for years.
The adobe is believed to have been built around 1828 by Teodoro Verdugo, the grandson of Jose Maria Verdugo, according to the Days of the Verdugos Heritage Assn.
There, under an oak tree in 1847, Mexican Gen. Andres Pico and Army Lt. Col. John C. Fremont discussed plans to bring an end to the Mexican-American War.
“Under that big oak, supposedly they shook hands and made their plans for peace,” McKently said.
The signing of the treaty occurred days later, paving the way for California’s statehood in 1850.
The oak tree no longer stands — it succumbed to a natural death in 1987 — but its legacy of peace endures.
McKently’s father, Ernest Bashor, purchased the adobe from developer F.P. Newport in the 1940s.
“Mr. Newport was glad to sell it to my father. He knew it would be used wisely,” she said.
The Bashor family used the adobe as a retreat from their home in Silver Lake, where McKently was raised. At the adobe, she helped her parents plant corn, boysenberries and redwood trees that still stand tall.
The property remained in McKently’s family until 1989, when the city of Glendale purchased the 1.3-acre site.
These days, Verdugo Woodlands Elementary students who walk to the adobe from their school for a field trip, are joyfully greeted by McKently, who sends them off to complete a scavenger hunt, including tallying how many wagon wheels they can find on the property.
She is grateful the area remains open to the public every day until dusk.
The adobe itself opens on occasion for guided group tours, given by members of the Days of the Verdugos Heritage Assn.
“I think it really has been a blessing,” she said of the site, on a recent afternoon, as she sat perched on a bench near where the old oak tree once stood.
She often observes many people visit the site to pray, walk their dogs and take in quiet time.
“It was meant to be a place of peace and happiness,” she said.
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Kelly Corrigan, kelly.corrigan@latimes.com
Twitter: @kellymcorrigan
