The query on cider mills reminded me of a question concerning the
Ruiz-Alvarado-Johnson Adobe in Los Penasquitos Rancho, San Diego County,
California. Initially a 1-room adobe house during Captain Ruiz and Francisco
Alvarado's ownership, Captain George A. Johnson married into the family and
expanded the adobe to a "U"-shaped structure with a stone-walled spring house
and wooden drying shed. Captain Johnson hailed from New England and probably
built the spring house and drying shed with New England templates. Inside the
spring house, a natural spring overflows and is channeled out the foundation
to a large fish pond. We assume crocks of butter, cheese, milk and yogurt
were set in the cold water, based on other sites. The wooden drying shed is a
mystery. All the 10-inch wide boards were drilled with 1-inch bits to enable
saws to cut vertical slots. The total effect is a high-pitched roof on a
12-15-foot shed with vertical slots. Does anyone have information on the
archaeology of spring houses and an idea of how the wood shed functioned?

Ron May
Legacy 106, Inc.