The pioneer Gaskill brothers of 1868 built a frame store which was raided on December 4, 1875 by border bandits. This fort-like replacement of summer 1855 was bought in 1896 by E. T. Aiken, resold to Klauber Wangenheim, 1889, and operated by Henry Marcus Johnson as the Mountain Commercial Company until 1925. In disrepair, it was bought after 1938 by E. M. Statler, given to San Diego County, and restored, 1943-48, as a museum.

Citation from California Office of Historic Preservation