Albinger Archaeological Museum

The Albinger Archaeological Museum was named for long-time Ventura Mayor Al Albinger and built on the home site of saloonkeeper and early mayor Angel Escondon. To the west of the museum is a walkway called Valdez Alley, where the 1820 Ramon Valdez adobe once stood. The adobe served as the first polling place where all nine eligible voters cast their ballots for Abraham Lincoln in 1860.

Farther up the hill on Valdez Alley is a little Mission-era brick building and fountain called “El Caballo” (the horse), after the shape of its water spout. The building was part of a seven-mile aqueduct system developed by the Spanish Padres and constructed by Chumash labor in the 1790s and early 1800s.