San Jose Township was a defunct township in

Los Angeles County, California Los Angeles County, officially the County of Los Angeles, and sometimes abbreviated as L.A. County, is the List of the most populous counties in the United States, most populous county in the United States and in the U.S. state of California, ...

. It existed prior to the abolition of townships in California, and appeared as a subdivision of Los Angeles County in the 1860, 1870 and 1880 U.S. Censuses. Its area encompassed

Rancho San Jose Rancho or Ranchos may refer to: Settlements and communities *Rancho, Aruba, former fishing village and neighbourhood of Oranjestad *Ranchos of California, 19th century land grants in Alta California **List of California Ranchos *Ranchos, Buenos Ai ...

, the eastern portions of the county drained by

San Jose Creek San Jose Creek is an intermittent, tributary stream of the San Gabriel River in Los Angeles County, California. The mouth of San Jose Creek is at an elevation of 194 feet / 59 meters at its confluence with the San Gabriel River, southwest of B ...

, including what is now the cities of Pomona, Claremont and

Walnut A walnut is the edible seed of a drupe of any tree of the genus ''Juglans'' (family Juglandaceae), particularly the Persian or English walnut, '' Juglans regia''. Although culinarily considered a "nut" and used as such, it is not a true ...

. In 1880, it was recorded as having 1170 residents - which made it one of the smallest townships in Los Angeles County, but nevertheless a sizable settlement in the region, larger than

Bakersfield Bakersfield is a city in Kern County, California, United States. It is the county seat and largest city of Kern County. The city covers about near the southern end of the San Joaquin Valley and the Central Valley region. Bakersfield's pop ...

and slightly smaller than Riverside (in that year, there were only three settlements with populations above 1000 in Southern California outside Los Angeles and Ventura counties.) The territory of the township included, among others, villages known as ''Spadra'' and ''Lordsburg''. Louis Phillips, reportedly the richest man in Los Angeles County in the late 19th century, was one of the residents of Spadra. The township was crossed by two east-west railroads,

California Central Railway The California Central Railway was incorporated on April 23, 1887, with headquarters in San Bernardino, California. George O. Manchester was the President of the corporation. At its peak it operated of rail line with 14 steam locomotives, 14 ...

(later Southern California Railway) to the north, with a train station at Lordsburg, and Southern California Railway to the south, with a station at Spadra (ten miles east of Puente and three miles west of Pomona.) Lordsburg was eventually incorporated as

La Verne, California La Verne is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States. The population was 31,063 at the 2010 census, down from 31,638 at the 2000 census. History The European history of the area dates back to the 1830s when Ygnacio Palomare ...

, and Spadra was annexed by Pomona.

References

{{Former settlements of Los Angeles County, California Former settlements in Los Angeles County, California Former townships in Los Angeles County, California