Support the Trujillo Adobe’s National Recognition. We need your signature before May 9!

The Trujillo Adobe is under review for inclusion on the National Register of Historic Places. Your voice can make the difference. Sign the petition today to help us protect this legacy site and ensure it receives the recognition it deserves.

✍️ Sign the Petition | 🕊️ Protect Our Story | 🧱 Build Our Future

The Trujillo Adobe, built in 1862, is the last remaining structure of the historic community of La Placita—a vital inland California settlement founded by Genízaro, Indigenous, and Latino families who migrated from New Mexico along the Old Spanish Trail. Today, the adobe still stands as an enduring landmark and a living symbol of California’s cross-cultural legacy.

But while other historic places have long benefited from preservation funding, the Trujillo Adobe was left behind for decades. That ends now.

Thanks to community activism, the Spanish Town Heritage Foundation has secured $10 million in public funding and partnered with the County of Riverside and City of Riverside to restore the adobe and build a cultural heritage site. We are now seeking national recognition by adding the Trujillo Adobe to the National Register of Historic Places.

This designation would ensure the site receives the visibility and respect it deserves—not just for its architecture, but for its powerful story of migration, survival, education, and community building.

This is a place where:

🧑🏽‍🏫 Alice Rowan Johnson, California’s first certified African American teacher, taught at the nearby Trujillo School in 1896.
💪🏽 Families of Genízaro heritage built a self-sustaining, multicultural settlement—one of the earliest in the San Bernardino Valley.
💬 Generations have preserved this legacy through oral history, family tradition, and local stewardship.

Support the Trujillo Adobe’s Nomination to the National Register

Dear State Historical Resources Commission and National Register Review Board,

I’m writing as a community member who is deeply invested in the preservation and future of the Trujillo Adobe, one of the most meaningful and culturally significant historic sites in all of inland Southern California. I urge your full support for its nomination to the National Register of Historic Places.

Built in 1862 by Antonio Teodoro Trujillo, the adobe is an enduring landmark and the only surviving structure of La Placita—one of the earliest settlements in the San Bernardino Valley. Its story is rooted in migration, resilience, and identity. The adobe stands as a rare California site tied to Genízaro emigrants from New Mexico, descendants of Indigenous people who were forcibly assimilated, then became landholders, defenders, and community builders along the Old Spanish Trail.

This site also holds cross-cultural importance. In 1896, Alice Rowan Johnson, the first African American woman certified to teach in California, broke barriers by teaching at the nearby Trujillo School. Her legacy—alongside the Trujillo family’s—represents the overlapping stories of Black, Latino, and Indigenous Californians who shaped our state.

For decades, the adobe stood without the investment many other sites received—yet it survived, due to the strength and determination of the local community. In recent years, the nonprofit Spanish Town Heritage Foundation has led a major effort to restore the site. In partnership with Riverside County and the City of Riverside, they’ve secured $10 million in public funding and developed a comprehensive Preservation Plan, outlining a future vision that includes a reconstructed adobe and the creation of a Trujillo Adobe Heritage Village.

The adobe’s preservation is not just about saving a structure—it’s about honoring the communities whose stories have too often been overlooked, and creating a space where history is told truthfully and proudly.

Please support the Trujillo Adobe’s inclusion on the National Register of Historic Places. Let this be the moment when California formally recognizes and uplifts this legacy site for the generations to come.

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📣 We Need Your Voice

The Trujillo Adobe is under review for inclusion on the National Register of Historic Places. Your voice can make the difference.

Here’s how you can help:

Sign the petition – Add your name and email to send a message directly to the decision-makers before May 9.
Share with your network – Use the link or QR code to spread the word on social media, email, or in person. Every signature counts!
Write your own email – Send a personal message to [email protected] and CC your local Assemblymember and State Senator.

To find your representatives and their contact information, visit the California State Legislature’s Find Your Representative page

✍️ Want to Write Your Own Message? Use These Sample Letters

Make your voice heard by sending a personalized email to the State Historical Resources Commission. Below are sample letters you can copy and paste (or customize) and send directly from your inbox.

📬 Instructions: How to Help

Open your email program or Gmail
Copy one of the sample letters below (click the “Copy Email Text” button)
Paste it into a new email addressed to:
📧 [email protected]
CC your Assemblymember and State Senator (find them at findyourrep.legislature.ca.gov)
Add your name and city, then hit Send

Let the Commission know: The Trujillo Adobe matters.

📩 Sample Email #1: Formal Support

Subject: Support for Trujillo Adobe National Register Nomination

Dear State Historical Resources Commission,

I am writing in strong support of the nomination of the Trujillo Adobe to the National Register of Historic Places.

Built in 1862 by Antonio Teodoro Trujillo, the adobe is one of the last remaining physical links to early Latino, Indigenous, and Genízaro settlement in inland Southern California. It stands not only as an architectural site, but as a living cultural landmark tied to migration, education, and community resilience.

A nonprofit, the Spanish Town Heritage Foundation, has raised $10 million and partnered with local governments to restore this historic adobe and establish a heritage village. Recognition at the national level is essential to preserve and elevate this vital chapter of California’s story.

I respectfully urge you to approve the Trujillo Adobe’s nomination.

Sincerely,
[Your Name]
[Your City/ZIP]

💌 Sample Email #2: Personal Connection

Subject: Please Support the Trujillo Adobe’s Preservation

Dear Members of the SHRC,

My name is [Your Name], and I grew up in Southern California. When I learned about the Trujillo Adobe and its deep connection to Genízaro, Latino, and Indigenous history, I felt compelled to speak up.

This adobe tells the story of migration, family, and survival in early California. It’s tied to communities who have historically been left out of preservation efforts.

I am asking you to please approve its nomination to the National Register of Historic Places. We must protect not just buildings—but the voices and cultures they represent.

Thank you for your work.
[Your Name]

🏡 Sample Email #3: Community-Focused

Subject: Trujillo Adobe Is a Community Treasure—Please Protect It

Dear State Historical Resources Commission,

As a resident of [City], I want to express my strong support for the Trujillo Adobe’s nomination to the National Register of Historic Places.

The adobe is a rare survivor—built in 1862 by descendants of Genízaro and Indigenous Californians, and tied to the early agricultural development of the region. It’s also the only remaining structure from La Placita, once the heart of a thriving Latino and Indigenous settlement.

This site matters to our community. The nonprofit Spanish Town Heritage Foundation has stepped up to preserve it, raise funding, and build a public history center that all Californians can be proud of.

Please help make that vision possible by approving the Trujillo Adobe’s nomination.

Sincerely,
[Your Name]
[Your Neighborhood/City]