Statement of Significance (as of designation - February 16, 2000):
No other extant site is more strongly associated with Helen Hunt Jackson's novel "Ramona" and the resource possesses exceptional value in interpreting the fictional "Home of Ramona." The publication of Ramona in 1884, together with the arrival of the Southern Pacific railroad at Camulos in 1887, propelled the rancho into a nationwide notoriety that proved key to the romanticizing of the mission and rancho era of California history. As the setting for Ramona, Rancho Camulos is vital to the creation of this mythology.