Clipboard : RANCHO SAN JOAQUIN

The city of Irvine’s oldest standing structure was erected in 1877. This modest, two-room building was a late addition to the two-story house that James Irvine built in 1868 to have a place to conduct business. (Irvine lived in San Francisco but had many real estate holdings throughout the state.) Only the single-story portion stands today; its better (taller) half was razed in 1962.

Today the building, taking the name of the original Spanish tract, seems completely out of league, surrounded, as it is, by the San Joaquin Golf Course and clubhouse and the neighboring Rancho San Joaquin townhouses. But its age befits its current resident, the Irvine Historical Society, in existence since 1977 and which opened a museum there in September, 1980.

Its offerings fill one room and spill outside with farm equipment and machinery. “We try to make a good display” out of the things on hand, said Judy Liebeck, Irvine Historical Society docent. The staff of six to eight volunteers does follow-up research to fill in the background.

The museum offers a mini-course in Irvine history, where visitors will learn, among other things, that by 1910 Irvine was the world’s leading producer of lima beans. The Irvine Ranch had the world’s largest field, 17,000 acres, located at the current site of the El Toro Marine Corps Air Station.

The course also will teach visitors that drought is nothing new. In 1864, a drought killed tens of thousands of cattle on the Irvine Ranch, and another in 1891 killed thousands of sheep.

Irvine exercised his rights to the water of the Santa Ana River’s largest tributary and in 1893 began diverting Santiago Creek water into a canal and pipeline to Peters Canyon Reservoir. As fast as water sources could be tapped, citrus orchards were filled out, giving the city a heritage that is at least partially still present.

Children seem most curious about the farming equipment, Liebeck said. These items include irrigation stations (cement cylinders that could be opened or closed to allow water to flow to pipes in rows between trees), a lima bean planter, a feed trough and hitching post, paddock gates and honey separators--bees being necessary for the pollination of citrus and avocado crops.

Liebeck, the author of the commemorative book on the history of Irvine published last year on the 20th anniversary of its cityhood, devotes 105 pages to the Irvine family.

She did the research over a span of 10 years and was struck by the mystery surrounding the death of Irvine’s grandson, Myford. A coroner’s ruling of suicide is less than convincing, she says. The evidence is that two rifle shots to the stomach didn’t do the trick, so Myford allegedly dragged himself across the basement floor (pulling the rifle with him) to pick up a pistol and shoot himself in his right temple with his left hand.

History, Liebeck says, has not been respected in Orange County, where the “developer is king.” The trend here is to “develop new communities and forget the history. All the roots are gone. We have to fight to preserve.”

Hours: 1 to 5 p.m. Tuesday and Sunday

Address: 5 Rancho San Joaquin

Telephone: (714) 786-4112

Miscellaneous Information: Residents are invited to join the historical society as members or volunteers by phoning the number listed above.