Jensen Alvarado Historic Ranch and Museum

Jensen Alvarado Historic Ranch and Museum is located in Riverside off of the 60 Freeway and Rubidoux Blvd on a 30-acre site. The ranch was built by the retired sea captain Cornelius Jensen and wife Mercedes Alvarado. The park gives visitors a peek into the past, showing life as it was lived in the 1880’s.

Tours are available of the preserved home, with furniture and utensils that belonged to the original owners still intact. The ranch features farm tools once used on the ranch, crops once tended to by the family, orange groves, a windmill, a tank house, a milk house and an archeology table. The museum, located in the family winery, contains additional farming equipment, Jensen’s saddle, tools, a buggy and other items related to the family.

Group tours are available by appointment Monday through Friday by appointment only. Lead by interpreters in period-appropriate attire, demonstrations of tortilla and butter making, adobe brick making, ice cream cranking, scrub board and wringer laundry, weaving, and various farming techniques from the 19th century are offered to groups with reservations.

You can pick up a park brochure at the Riverside County Park District Headquarters, or you can drop into the park and check it out.