Mystery Building
A lot of guys go to the Exxon station for coffee each morning, and sometimes have breakfast. The ladies in pretty green smocks make a mean taco and good coffee. Besides you can hear a lively story there once in a while. Sometimes it is the same one from last week, but it is still good.
I saw James Mather there a few weeks ago. He had just bought a parcel of land out county road 214 where the community of San Gabriel River Ranch is. He was excited about finding on his land what has become a mystery. He asked if I wanted to go see it. I jumped at the opportunity. In the thick live oak, Spanish oak, and cedar covered land there stands a most unusual stone building. The structure is about 20 feet by 25 feet with a fireplace in the north end of two feet thick walls. The fireplace opening has a keystone to carry the weight of the rocks above. The masons that built the house shaped the stone with carefully cut limestone rocks. They obviously knew how to build a stone fireplace. Openings on all four walls where windows would normally be are only about one foot wide by 20 inches tall. There is a doorway on the east side as well as on the west side. The lintels over the doorways have fallen away or were removed in later years. All around the house are the remnants of rock fences to keep something out or keep something in or both.
The mystery is, why is it here? Some one labored long and hard to cut and haul the stone. It is built stronger than most buildings of that era. There does not appear to be any signs of an old road in the area. Could it be a forgotten stagecoach stop? Or perhaps a Pony Express relay post? Or was it a home built on the far frontier. With two-foot thick walls it is apparent it was built for defense. The window openings appear to me to be made for shooting from. The fireplace offered a bit of comfort as well as a place to cook meals.
I spoke to Imogene Stanford, a long time citizen of the area, but she did not know of the building. I called Raymond Hodon, who lives, with his wife Edna, on the North Gabriel to see if he could shed any light on the mystery. His guess was it might have been built on a long forgotten trail between the Baghdad community and the gristmill at San Gabriel Mills, some 5 miles up the river. I scanned the book, “Land of Good Water,” by Clara Scarbrough looking for a clue, but found nothing.
So the building remains a mystery of our area. My mind brought up thoughts of the early days of hard working men and women pushing the frontier further west. It is hard for us, in these days of easy living, to understand their courage, tenacity, and strength to build such a structure.
I think I will visit the Exxon station more often. Maybe I will have breakfast with black coffee. Who knows, one morning, an old, wrinkled guy with scuffed; overrun boots will have the answer to our mystery. I will let you know. I might even buy his coffee.