Rancho San Jose

Rancho San Jose was a convert|22000|acre|km2|sing=on land grant created in 1837 in northeastern Los Angeles County.

History

The Rancho was created out of land seized from the Mission San Gabriel Arcángel in 1834 as part of the Mexican government's decree of secularization. In 1837, Mexican Governor Juan Bautista Alvarado granted the land to Ygnacio Palomares and Ricardo Vejar, both sons of native Spaniards. The boundaries were laid out by Palomares and Vejar on March 19, 1837, the feast day of St. Joseph, thus leading the men to name the ranch after the saint.cite book|author=Mildred Brooke Hoover, Douglas E. Kyle, Ethel G. Rensch |title=Historic spots in California, p. 166|publisher=Stanford University Press|date=2002|isbn=0804744831] Father José Maria de Zalvidea accompanied the party from the San Gabriel Mission, performing the first Christian religious ceremony in the Pomona Valley when he performed a benediction for settlers of the rancho under an oak tree located at what is now 458 Kenoak Place in Pomona. The Rancho San Jose operated by Dons Palomares and Vejar covered much of eastern Los Angeles County. Dons Ygnacio and Vejar conducted a sheep and cattle ranch on the land, also growing crops for consumption by the residents of the ranch. In the early 1860, a severe drought struck the Los Angeles area, and decimated the ranch's population of sheep and cattle. The drought combined with a smallpox epidemic brought an end to the operations of the Rancho San Jose. Don Ygancio Palomares died in 1864, and his widow began selling the ranch land in 1865. By 1874, the entire ranch had been sold to settlers and real estate developers.

Modern development of Rancho San Jose

In the late 19th and early 20th Centuries, several thriving communities were built up on land that was once part of the Rancho San Jose. Today, the communities of Pomona, LaVerne, San Dimas, Diamond Bar, Azusa, Covina, Walnut, Glendora, and Claremont are built in whole or part on land that was once part of the Rancho San Jose.cite web|title=Adobe de Palomares|publisher=Historical Society of Pomona Valley|url=http://www.pomonahistorical.org/palomares/] Though there were no schools on the old rancho, the land holdings of the former Rancho San Jose are now home to one of California's greatest concentrations of colleges and universities, including Pomona College, Scripps College, Harvey Mudd College, Pitzer College, Claremont McKenna College, Keck Graduate Institute, Claremont Graduate University, Claremont School of Theology, and California State Polytechnic University, Pomona.

Historic sites of the Rancho

Due in part to the slower growth of eastern Los Angeles County, and the early activities of the Historical Society of Pomona Valley, many of the historic buildings of the Rancho San Jose remain in existence today, several of them operated by the Historical Society. Important 19th century historic sites in the old Rancho San Jose include the following:
* La Casa Primera de Rancho San Jose - the original adobe home of Ygnacio Palomares built in 1837; now operated by the Historical Society of Pomona Valley
* La Casa Alvardo - an adobe home built in 1840 by Palomares' close friend, Yganacio Alvarado, near the Casa Primera
* Ygnacio Palomares Adobe - the second and larger adobe home built by Ygnacio Palomares between 1850 and 1855; now operated by the Historical Society of Pomona Valley
* Phillips Mansion - mansion built in 1875 by Louis Phillips, who bought convert|12000|acre|km2 consisting of the southern part of the Rancho in 1864; Phillips went on to become the richest man in Los Angeles County; the mansion is now operated by the Historic Society of Pomona Valley
* San Dimas Hotel - railroad hotel built by the San Jose Ranch Company in 1887 in anticipation of a land boom that went bust; the hotel never had a paying guest and became a private residence; now operated by the City of San Dimas

ee also

* List of Registered Historic Places in Los Angeles County, California

References