A re-enactment of the signing of the Treaty of Cahuenga on Jan. 11 was a fun and free annual event that drew families and history buffs to the historic Campo de Cahuenga Memorial Park in Studio City across from Universal City Studios. The adobe building on Lankershim Boulevard is called the birthplace of California by historians.
Back in 1847 the signing of the Treaty of Cahuenga led to the ending of fighting between Mexican and American forces during the Mexican-American War. It was signed at the Campo de Cahuenga — an adobe ranch house near the Cahuenga Pass in the San Fernando Valley.
The historic site is now a memorial park, with markers showing the original adobe’s foundation. The structure was demolished in 1900, and in 1923 the City of Los Angeles bought the property. Decades later efforts led by Irene T. Lindsay, the then-president of the San Fernando Valley Historical Society, resulted in the city building a replica “adobe” ranch house which was dedicated on November 2, 1950.
The site is managed by the L.A. Department of Recreation and Parks in partnership with the Campo de Cahuenga Historical Memorial Association. According to the Department of Recreation and Parks, the site was named Los Angeles Cultural-Historic Monument No. 29 on November 13, 1964, and California State Historical Landmark No. 151 on January 11, 1935.