Rancho Azusa de Duarte was a

Mexican land grant In Alta California (now known as California) and Baja California, ranchos were concessions and land grants made by the Spanish and Mexican governments from 1775 to 1846. The Spanish concessions of land were made to retired soldiers as an indu ...

in present-day

Los Angeles County, California Los Angeles County, officially the County of Los Angeles and sometimes abbreviated as LA County, is the List of United States counties and county equivalents, most populous county in the United States, with 9,663,345 residents estimated in 202 ...

given in 1841 by Governor Juan Alvarado to Andres Duarte, a former Mexican corporal. Cities that have been established on the Rancho lands originally granted to Andres Duarte include Arcadia, portions of

Monrovia Monrovia () is the administrative capital city, capital and largest city of Liberia. Founded in 1822, it is located on Cape Mesurado on the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic coast and as of the 2022 census had 1,761,032 residents, home to 33.5% of Liber ...

, all of Bradbury, all of Duarte, portions of

Irwindale } Irwindale is a city in the San Gabriel Valley, in Los Angeles County, California. The population was 1,472 at the 2020 census, 1,422 at the 2010 census. The ZIP Codes serving the area are 91010, which is shared with Duarte, 91702, which i ...

, portions of

Azusa AZUSA refers to a ground-based radar tracking system installed at Cape Canaveral, Florida and the NASA Kennedy Space Center. AZUSA was named after the southern California town Azusa, California where the system was devised in the early 1950s. ...

and a portion of Baldwin Park.

History

Andres Avelino Duarte (1805 - 1863) was born at the

Mission San Juan Capistrano Mission San Juan Capistrano () is a Spanish missions in California, Spanish mission in San Juan Capistrano, California, San Juan Capistrano, Orange County, California, Orange County, California. Founded November 1, 1776 in colonial ''The Califo ...

. At age 16 he followed his father's career and joined the Mexican army. He was assigned to

Mission San Gabriel Mission (from Latin 'the act of sending out'), Missions or The Mission may refer to: Geography Australia *Mission River (Queensland) Canada *Mission, British Columbia, a district municipality *Mission, Calgary, Alberta, a neighbourhood * O ...

. He married Maria Gertrudes Florentina Valenzuela in about 1827. In 1841, on retirement from military service after 20 years, he petitioned Governor Juan Alvarado for a grant of vacant land in the upper San Gabriel Valley. He was granted what he named Rancho Azusa de Duarte. The Rancho Azusa Duarte lay west across San Gabriel River from the Rancho Azusa de Dalton. The original name for Rancho Azusa Dalton was Rancho El Susa, and Rancho Azusa Duarte was often called Susita. As a condition of the land grant, Andres Duarte built an adobe for himself and his family and settled on the land. He and his wife Gertrudes and their son Felipe Santiago lived in a small adobe called “The Homestead”, located on what is now Tocino Drive. After the

Mexican-American War Mexican Americans are Americans of full or partial Mexican descent. In 2022, Mexican Americans comprised 11.2% of the US population and 58.9% of all Hispanic and Latino Americans. In 2019, 71% of Mexican Americans were born in the United State ...

and the signing of the

Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo officially ended the Mexican–American War (1846–1848). It was signed on 2 February 1848 in the town of Villa de Guadalupe, Mexico City, Guadalupe Hidalgo. After the defeat of its army and the fall of the cap ...

, Duarte filed a claim with the

Public Land Commission The California Land Act of 1851 (), enacted following the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo and the admission of California as a state in 1850, established the California State Lands Commission to determine the validity of prior Spanish and Mexican l ...

for the lands granted to him in 1841. Duarte began incurring legal expenses and other debts, which he defrayed by selling portions of the rancho. His first sale was a parcel at the southern end of the rancho to Michael Whistler. Whistler later sold the entire parcel to Dr. Nehemiah Beardslee, who started the first school in Duarte and laid out the first section of Duarte's water lines. Andres Duarte divided much of the remainder of the rancho into lots and sold them individually. A US patent for the rancho was awarded to Andres Duarte in 1878. Duarte finally won a favorable ruling from the

Supreme Court In most legal jurisdictions, a supreme court, also known as a court of last resort, apex court, high (or final) court of appeal, and court of final appeal, is the highest court within the hierarchy of courts. Broadly speaking, the decisions of ...

for his land grant case in 1878, but by then he had sold the entire Rancho.

References

{{Los Angeles County, California San Gabriel Valley Arcadia, California Azusa, California Baldwin Park, California Duarte, California Irwindale, California Monrovia, California 1841 establishments in Alta California Ranchos of Los Angeles County, California

History

See also

References