Moulton Museum has a Map Collection (2017.09) that contain a series of late 1800 and 1900 maps. The provenance is from the Moulton family and community members.
Moulton Ranch was developed from Rancho Niguel which was a Spanish and Mexican land grant. It contained 21,723 acres when Lewis Moulton and J.P. Daguerre developed into L.F. Moulton & Co. Moulton Museum’s map collection features the change over time from these historical periods of ownership. The earliest maps are disenos which are illustrated, hand drawn maps of the area. The diseños were given to us by members of the historical community such as this 1842 map from Doug Westfall.
Land surveying wasn’t developed with transit equipment until the 1850s, so these are approximate measurements of the landscape on a visual level. Lewis’ personal friend Judge Richard Egan helped him with the land acquisition and appraisal process. Some of our maps show this important relationship with the signatures on the maps showing the business relationship.
The Lewis Fenno Moulton Ranch Recalled by Charlotte Moulton hand drawn map illustrates the major historical locations of corrals, barns, herds, and natural resources. The lower caption reads, “El Toro California imagined as it was when Charlotte grew up prior to 1935 Orange County” It was illustrated from Charlotte’s memory by Francine Haines, a local artist and cousin of the Moulton Family. (2017.09.18)
The museum also has in this collection a series of topographical maps. One of our best examples is this circa 1975 map dedicated “To Louise and Ivar” Hanson. It is an over-sized aerial map as shown with the The Chet Holifield Federal Building near the center which became known as “the Ziggurat Building“, (2017.09.02)
