Rancho Nipomo 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

San Luis Obispo County, California San Luis Obispo County (), officially the County of San Luis Obispo, is a County (United States), county on the Central Coast of California. As of the 2020 United States census, the population was 282,424. The county seat is San Luis Obispo ...

given in 1837 by Governor Juan B. Alvarado to William Goodwin Dana. The grant encompassed present day

Nipomo Nipomo (; Chumash: ''Nipumuʔ'') is an unincorporated town in San Luis Obispo County, California, United States. The population was 16,714 for the 2010 census and grew to 18,176 for the 2020 census. For statistical purposes, the United States C ...

. The ranch is designated as a

California Historical Landmark A California Historical Landmark (CHL) is a building, structure, site, or place in the U.S. state of California that has been determined to have statewide historical landmark significance. Criteria Historical significance is determined by meetin ...

History

William Goodwin Dana (May 5, 1797 – Feb 11, 1858) was born in

Boston Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

. Captain Dana went to sea early in life and arrived in Santa Barbara in 1825. He married Maria Josefa Carrillo, daughter of

Carlos Antonio Carrillo Carlos Antonio Carrillo (24 December 1783 – 23 February 1852), was a Californio politician, military officer, and ranchero. He was nominated to serve as Governor of Alta California from 1837 to 1838, in opposition to Juan Bautista Alvarado's ...

in 1828. In 1836, Dana was

alcalde ''Alcalde'' (; ) is the traditional Spanish municipal magistrate, who had both judicial and Administration (government), administrative functions. An ''alcalde'' was, in the absence of a corregidor (position), corregidor, the presiding officer o ...

of Santa Barbara. Dana was granted Rancho Nipomo in 1837. The family moved to Nipomo in 1839. Dana died at Nipomo in 1858. With the

cession The act of cession is the assignment of property to another entity. In international law it commonly refers to land transferred by treaty. Ballentine's Law Dictionary defines cession as "a surrender; a giving up; a relinquishment of jurisdicti ...

of California to the United States following the

Mexican–American War The Mexican–American War (Spanish language, Spanish: ''guerra de Estados Unidos-México, guerra mexicano-estadounidense''), also known in the United States as the Mexican War, and in Mexico as the United States intervention in Mexico, ...

, the 1848

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 ...

provided that the land grants would be honored. As required by the Land Act of 1851, a claim for Rancho Nipomo was filed 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 ...

in 1852, and the grant was

patented A patent is a type of intellectual property that gives its owner the legal right to exclude others from making, using, or selling an invention for a limited period of time in exchange for publishing an enabling disclosure of the invention."A ...

to William G. Dana in 1868.

Historic sites of the Rancho

* Dana Adobe. Adobe home started by Captain Dana in 1839.Dana Adobe

References

{{California history, state=collapsed

History

Historic sites of the Rancho

See also

References