In July 1769, the Portola Expedition named this area for St. Margaret of Antioch. The Mission San Luis Rey 1827 Inventories list a small building in the area. In 1841, Rancho San Onofre Y Santa Margarita was granted to Andres and Pio Pico, the last governor of Alta California. Land magnate Don Juan Forster owned the rancho from 1864-1882. Richard O'Neill and James Flood purchased 205, 000 acres in 1882. The ranch house stop served the 1882 transcontinental California Southern Railroad. In 1942, President Franklin D. Roosevelt dedicated Marine Corps Base Camp Joseph H. Pendleton. The railroad line continued as a vital military transportation link before devastation by the 1993 flood.

Citation from California Office of Historic Preservation