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Rancho San Pedro was one of the first California land grants and the first to win a patent from the United States. The Spanish Crown granted the of land to soldier Juan José Domínguez in 1784, with his descendants validating their legal claim with the Mexican government at in 1828, and later maintaining their legal claim through a United States patent validating in 1858. The original Spanish land grant included what today consists of the Pacific coast cities of Los Angeles harbor, San Pedro, the Palos Verdes peninsula, Torrance, Redondo Beach,
Domínguez's original grazing permission stretched from present-day Compton to the Palos Verdes Peninsula but did not become a title to land until it was "re-granted" in 1822 in the Mexican era to Juan José's nephew and heir, Cristóbal Domínguez. Cristóbal died soon afterward, but his three sons settled on the ranch, building adobe homes. The following year Manuel Domínguez, eldest son of Cristóbal Domínguez, married María Engracia de Cota and commenced a successful career raising cattle and serving in a variety of elected and appointed offices in Los Angeles.
For many years, a portion of the Rancho San Pedro land grant was contested between the Domínguez and Sepúlveda families through various appeals to Spanish Governors and lawsuits from 1817–1883 and was eventually partitioned into seventeen parcels in 1882. The Sepúlveda family was awarded known as Rancho de los Palos Verdes that later became the cities of the Palos Verdes Peninsula, as well as portions of Torrance and San Pedro.
With the cession of California to the United States following the
The Historic Dominguez Rancho Adobe
* Battle of Dominguez Rancho. The
California State University Dominguez Hills, Gerth Archives and Special Collections Rancho San Pedro Collection
{{coord , 33.770, -118.320, region:US-CA_type:landmark, display=title Los Angeles Harbor Region William Rosecrans History of Long Beach, California History of Torrance, California History of Carson, California Compton, California Lomita, California Gardena, California Paramount, California Wilmington, Los Angeles 18th century in Los Angeles 19th century in Los Angeles 1828 establishments in Alta California Ranchos of Los Angeles County, California
Hermosa Beach
Hermosa Beach (, Spanish language, Spanish for "Beautiful") is a beachfront city in Los Angeles County, California, United States. Its population was 19,728 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 U.S. Census. The city is located in the South Ba ...
, and Manhattan Beach, and east to the Los Angeles River
The Los Angeles River (), historically known as by the Tongva and the by the Spanish, is a major river in Los Angeles County, California. Its headwaters are in the Simi Hills and Santa Susana Mountains, and it flows nearly from Canoga Park ...
, including the cities of Lomita, Gardena, Harbor City, Wilmington, Carson, Compton, and western portions of Long Beach and Paramount
Paramount (from the word ''paramount'' meaning "above all others") may refer to:
Entertainment and music companies
* Paramount Global, also known simply as Paramount, an American mass media company formerly known as ViacomCBS.
**Paramount Picture ...
.
History
Juan José Domínguez (1736–1809), a Spanish soldier, arrived inSan Diego
San Diego ( , ) is a city on the Pacific coast of Southern California, adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a population of over 1.4 million, it is the List of United States cities by population, eighth-most populous city in t ...
, California
California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...
, in 1769 with Fernando Rivera y Moncada and served with the Gaspar de Portolà expedition and, along with Junípero Serra, traveled to San Juan Capistrano, San Gabriel, and Monterey. In 1784, Dominguez was granted a concession of seventeen Spanish leagues, or , from the Spanish Empire
The Spanish Empire, sometimes referred to as the Hispanic Monarchy (political entity), Hispanic Monarchy or the Catholic Monarchy, was a colonial empire that existed between 1492 and 1976. In conjunction with the Portuguese Empire, it ushered ...
.
Domínguez's original grazing permission stretched from present-day Compton to the Palos Verdes Peninsula but did not become a title to land until it was "re-granted" in 1822 in the Mexican era to Juan José's nephew and heir, Cristóbal Domínguez. Cristóbal died soon afterward, but his three sons settled on the ranch, building adobe homes. The following year Manuel Domínguez, eldest son of Cristóbal Domínguez, married María Engracia de Cota and commenced a successful career raising cattle and serving in a variety of elected and appointed offices in Los Angeles.
For many years, a portion of the Rancho San Pedro land grant was contested between the Domínguez and Sepúlveda families through various appeals to Spanish Governors and lawsuits from 1817–1883 and was eventually partitioned into seventeen parcels in 1882. The Sepúlveda family was awarded known as Rancho de los Palos Verdes that later became the cities of the Palos Verdes Peninsula, as well as portions of Torrance and San Pedro.
With the cession 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 provided that the land grants would be honored. As required by the Land Act of 1851, a claim for Rancho San Pedro was filed with the Public Land Commission in 1852, and a patent
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 sufficiency of disclosure, enabling discl ...
for was granted to Manuel Domínguez and signed by President James Buchanan
James Buchanan Jr. ( ; April 23, 1791June 1, 1868) was the 15th president of the United States, serving from 1857 to 1861. He also served as the United States Secretary of State, secretary of state from 1845 to 1849 and represented Pennsylvan ...
on December 18, 1858. A separate claim was filed by Nasario Domínguez in 1852 for 1/6 of the grant but it was rejected by the Commission in 1855.
In 1869, Union Army Major General William Starke Rosecrans bought . The "Rosecrans Rancho" was bordered by what later was Florence Avenue on the north, Redondo Beach Boulevard on the south, Central Avenue on the east, and Arlington Avenue on the west.
After the death of Manuel Domínguez and his wife, the rancho was divided among their six surviving daughters.
Historic sites
* Dominguez Rancho Adobe. The adobe of Manuel Dominguez, completed in 1826, is a national historic site.* Battle of Dominguez Rancho. 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, ...
battle was fought on the rancho site.
* The Claretians have been based, and gardened, adjacent to the Dominguez Rancho Adobe since circa 1900.
* Eagle Tree. The tree that was the marker for the border of the ranch. It fell in 2022.
See also
*Ranchos of California
In Alta California (now known as California) and Baja California, ranchos were concessions and land grants made by the Viceroyalty of New Spain, Spanish and History of Mexico, Mexican governments from 1775 to 1846. The Spanish concessions of l ...
* List of Ranchos of California
* Ranchos of Los Angeles County
* Dominguez Slough
References
External links
California State University Dominguez Hills, Gerth Archives and Special Collections Rancho San Pedro Collection
{{coord , 33.770, -118.320, region:US-CA_type:landmark, display=title Los Angeles Harbor Region William Rosecrans History of Long Beach, California History of Torrance, California History of Carson, California Compton, California Lomita, California Gardena, California Paramount, California Wilmington, Los Angeles 18th century in Los Angeles 19th century in Los Angeles 1828 establishments in Alta California Ranchos of Los Angeles County, California