Photograph by The original uploader was Tillman at English Wikipedia, Public domain. Via
Wikimedia Commons.
El Molino Viejo
Listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1971. 16 historic topographic surveys show this location, the earliest from 1894.
From the record
“El Molino Viejo, also known as The Old Mill, is a former grist mill in the San Rafael Hills of present-day San Marino, California, United States, and was built in 1816 by Father José María de Zalvidea from the Mission San Gabriel Arcángel. It is the oldest commercial building in Southern California, and was one of the first ten sites in Los Angeles County to be listed on the National Register of Historic Places, receiving the recognition in 1971.”
Wikipedia article El Molino Viejo, CC BY-SA 4.0.
One of 616 National Register listings published here for Los Angeles County · listed in 1971 · category: Building.
National Register reference number.71000154- the number the National Park Service assigned this property when it was listed, and the key its nomination file is catalogued under at the National Archives.
Then and now
1894 to 1995
The ground this property stands on, surveyed
101 years apart. Drag the handle to wipe between them. Both sheets are
United States Geological Survey originals; neither has been altered.
18941995
Fires near this property
215 since 1993
Regional context, not property-specific
evidence. The
federal wildfire occurrence database
lists 215 fires within 5 miles of El Molino Viejo
between 1993 and 2020, burning about 5,915 acres in total. 1 started naturally. 28 were recorded as arson.
Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a fire counted
here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.
Reported cause
Fires
Missing data/not specified/undetermined
113
Arson/incendiarism
28
Equipment and vehicle use
26
Smoking
23
Misuse of fire by a minor
13
Power generation/transmission/distribution
4
Debris and open burning
3
Recreation and ceremony
3
Natural
1
Fireworks
1
The most recent of
them, most recent first, with the day each was reported and the service
that recorded it.
Date
Cause
Size
Reported by
Name on the report
9 September 2019
Missing data/not specified/undetermined
under an acre
Los Angeles County Fire Department
not named
4 September 2016
Misuse of fire by a minor
under an acre
California Department of Forestry & Fire Protection
not named
4 September 2002
Power generation/transmission/distribution
under an acre
Angeles National Forest
ELLIOT
25 September 2009
Arson/incendiarism
2.0 acres
California Department of Forestry & Fire Protection
not named
21 September 2010
Debris and open burning
under an acre
California Department of Forestry & Fire Protection
not named
21 September 2008
Arson/incendiarism
under an acre
California Department of Forestry & Fire Protection
not named
20 September 2005
Missing data/not specified/undetermined
under an acre
California Department of Forestry & Fire Protection
not named
20 September 2005
Missing data/not specified/undetermined
under an acre
California Department of Forestry & Fire Protection
Regional context, not property-specific
evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists
4 workings within 5 miles of El Molino Viejo: 3 past producers, 1 producer.
1 still produces. What was taken out: Sand and Gravel, Construction, Clay. Distance is straight-line from the
map coordinates, so a quarry counted here may appear on a neighbouring
settlement's page as well.
Regional context, not property-specific
evidence. The National Weather Service names
Pasadena, the town this property stands in, in 3 storm reports between 2004 and 2024: 1 lightning, 1 hail, 1 flash flood.
No death or injury is recorded in these reports. Each account below is quoted exactly as the forecast office
filed it, from the NOAA Storm Events Database, and each date
opens the federal record of that event.
California Highway Patrol reported flash flooding of Highway 210 at the Lake Avenue onramp. Officers reported 6 to 12 inches of standing water on the onramp.
A severe thunderstorm produced large hail in the valleys of Los Angeles county. Near Pasadena, one and one quarter inch diameter hail was reported by a weather spotter.
United States Geological Survey topographic
sheets whose coverage includes this point. Matched by taking the coordinate the National Park Service records for this property, then
testing that coordinate against the published boundary of every sheet.
Other National Register properties close
enough to walk or drive between, ordered by distance from this one. Both
positions come from the same geocoding pass that matched these properties
to their map sheets.
Listing record. National Park Service National Register of Historic Places, listed-properties dataset, current to 2026-05-22.
Map join. Address geocoded through the United States Census geocoder, then tested against the published boundary of every sheet in the USGS Historical Topographic Map Collection.
How this page is made. Listing fields come from federal records; map-sheet coverage is a labelled coordinate-to-boundary calculation, not a source-field claim.
Wildfire. Short, Karen C. 2022. Spatial wildfire occurrence data for the United States, 1992-2020 [FPA_FOD_20221014]. 6th Edition. Fort Collins, CO: Forest Service Research Data Archive. https://doi.org/10.2737/RDS-2013-0009.6 Collected with United States Government funding and usable without additional permissions or fees.
Mines and quarries. USGS Mineral Resources Data System (MRDS) https://mrdata.usgs.gov/mrds/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105.
Storms. NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/stormevents/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105. Narratives are quoted verbatim from the National Weather Service report and are not edited or summarised.
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