The Los Rios Historic District in San Juan Capistrano was placed on the National Register of Historic Places on April 4, 1983. It includes 31 historic structures lining both sides of the street from Del Obispo to Mission Street, within the locally designated 40-acre Los Rios Historic Area of homes, cottage businesses, a park, and museums, and one of the oldest neighborhoods in California. Its architecture spans two centuries, including three adobe homes, the only survivors of 40 adobes built in 1794 by Indian neophytes, among nearly 1,000 neophytes who lived and worked around Mission San Juan Capistrano. The most common buildings on Los Rios Street are board and batten homes built between 1887 and 1910, and this collection of single-wall-construction houses qualified the district for the National Register. A few homes have been built since 1920, but guidelines require new construction to remain compatible in size and design. The district also includes River Street, once a narrow dirt road that served as the main path across Trabuco Creek connecting the town to the ocean, and the Santa Fe Railroad Depot, a vital part of the community since its construction in 1894. Though built over a long period, the district's small homes form a cohesive neighborhood that preserves the small-town character of San Juan Capistrano at the turn of the century, with a striking unity and unassuming design, and many have been restored, including the home of Albert Pryor, now the O'Neill Museum.
