Rancho San Rafael was a Spanish land grant in the San Rafael Hills, bordering the

Los Angeles River , name_etymology = , image = File:Los Angeles River from Fletcher Drive Bridge 2019.jpg , image_caption = L.A. River from Fletcher Drive Bridge , image_size = 300 , map = LARmap.jpg , map_size ...

and the Arroyo Seco in present-day

Los Angeles County Los Angeles County, officially the County of Los Angeles, and sometimes abbreviated as L.A. County, is the most populous county in the United States and in the U.S. state of California, with 9,861,224 residents estimated as of 2022. It is th ...

, southern

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the ...

, given in 1784 to Jose Maria Verdugo.

Geography

The rancho includes the present day cities of Glendale, La Cañada Flintridge, Montrose, Verdugo City; and the

city of Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world ...

neighborhoods of

Atwater Village Atwater Village is a neighborhood in the 13th district of Los Angeles, California. Much of Atwater Village lies in the fertile Los Angeles River flood plain. Located in the northeast region of the city, Atwater borders Griffith Park and Silver La ...

Cypress Park Cypress Park is a densely populated neighborhood of 10,000+ residents in Northeast Los Angeles, California. Surrounded by hills on three sides, it sits in the valley created by the Los Angeles River and the Arroyo Seco. It is the site of the Rio ...

, Eagle Rock,

Garvanza Garvanza is a neighborhood in northeast Los Angeles. Fourteen Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monuments are located in the neighborhood. History The town of Garvanza was originally part of the Rancho San Rafael, owned by Jose Maria Verdugo. Its na ...

, Glassell Park, Highland Park, and Mount Washington.
"Eastside Lifestyle," Atwater Village History, ''Eastside LA Lifestyle'' The rancho's boundaries were primarily defined by the

Verdugo Mountains The Verdugo Mountains, also known as the Verdugo Hills or simply The Verdugos, are a small, rugged mountain range of the Transverse Ranges system in Los Angeles County, California. Located just south of the western San Gabriel Mountains, the Ver ...

on the west, the Crescenta Valley and Rancho La Cañada on the north, the Arroyo Seco on the east, and the

on the south. The boundary followed north along the northeast bank of the L.A. River, and then wrapped westerly around present day

Griffith Park Griffith Park is a large municipal park at the eastern end of the Santa Monica Mountains, in the Los Feliz neighborhood of Los Angeles, California. The park includes popular attractions such as the Los Angeles Zoo, the Autry Museum of the A ...

to a point near the Travel Town Museum there..

History

Corporal José María Verdugo (1751–1831), a Spanish soldier who had served with the 1769 Portola-Serra Expedition, received a provisional eight square league grant of the Rancho San Rafael in 1784, from his army commander Governor Pedro Fages, which was confirmed in 1798 by Governor Diego de Borica. In 1798 Verdugo retired from the army to become a full-time rancher. Verdugo died in 1831 and he left his property to his surviving son Julio Antonio Verdugo (1789–1876) and daughter María Catalina Verdugo (1799–1837). With the cession of California to the United States following the

Mexican–American War The Mexican–American War, also known in the United States as the Mexican War and in Mexico as the (''United States intervention in Mexico''), was an armed conflict between the United States and Second Federal Republic of Mexico, Mexico f ...

, the 1848

Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo ( es, Tratado de Guadalupe Hidalgo), officially the Treaty of Peace, Friendship, Limits, and Settlement between the United States of America and the United Mexican States, is the peace treaty that was signed on 2 ...

provided that the land grants would be honored. As required by the Land Act of 1851, a claim was filed with the Public Land Commission in 1852, confirmed by the Commission in 1855, and the grant was patented to Julio and Catalina Verdugo in 1882. In 1857, Jonathan R. Scott traded Rancho La Cañada to Julio and Catalina Verdugo, heirs of Jose Maria Verdugo, for acres on the west side of Rancho San Rafael - what is today

Burbank Burbank may refer to: Places Australia * Burbank, Queensland, a suburb in Brisbane United States * Burbank, California, a city in Los Angeles County * Burbank, Santa Clara County, California, a census-designated place * Burbank, Illinois, ...

. In 1861 Julio and Catalina Verdugo split the rancho between southern (Julio) and northern (Catalina) portions. In 1861, Julio Verdugo mortgaged a substantial portion of the Rancho to Jacob Elias under terms that he could not afford. By the late 1860s, several parcels of Rancho San Rafael had been either sold, or lost due to foreclosures. Many individuals were claiming ownership to multiple sections of the rancho. In 1871, law partners

Alfred Chapman Alfred Beck Chapman (September 6, 1829 – January 16, 1915) was a Los Angeles real estate attorney and investor. He was one of the founders of the city of Orange, California. Personal Chapman was born on September 6, 1829, in Greensboro, Alab ...

and Andrew Glassell filed a lawsuit, known as "The Great Partition", against thirty-six separate defendants. The plaintiffs contended that there were numerous alleged property owners occupying tracts of land whose boundaries were illegally established. Once the validity of the claims were proven, a partition was demanded. Ultimately, Rancho San Rafael was divided into thirty-one sections given to twenty-eight different people, some of which included members of the Verdugo family.

Historic sites of the Rancho

* Casa Adobe De San Rafael: An 1865 hacienda-type adobe built by Tomas Avila Sanchez and Maria Sepulveda. *

Catalina Verdugo Adobe The Catalina Verdugo Adobe, also known as the Catalina Adobe, the Verdugo Adobe, and the Teodoro Adobe, is a historic adobe building and a public park located at 2211 Bonita Drive in Glendale, California. History The adobe was built on a small ...

: An 1860 adobe built by Catalina's nephew, Teodoro Verdugo. The property is the location of the ''Oak of Peace'', where early

Californio Californio (plural Californios) is a term used to designate a Hispanic Californians, Hispanic Californian, especially those descended from Spanish and Mexican settlers of the 17th through 19th centuries. California's Spanish language, Spanish-s ...

leaders, including Andres Pico, met in 1847 and decided to surrender to Lieutenant Colonel John C. Frémont.Verdugo Adobe was preserved by developer
by Katherine Yamada, published in the Glendale News-Press

References

External links

Map of old Spanish and Mexican ranchos in Los Angeles County
{{California history, state=collapsed

San Rafael San Rafael may refer to: Places Argentina * San Rafael, Mendoza * San Rafael Department, Mendoza Bolivia * San Rafael de Velasco, capital of San Rafael Municipality * San Rafael Municipality, Santa Cruz Chile * San Rafael, Chile, Maule ...

History of Los Angeles History of the San Fernando Valley Northeast Los Angeles Arroyo Seco (Los Angeles County) Crescenta Valley San Rafael Hills Verdugo Mountains Cypress Park, Los Angeles Eagle Rock, Los Angeles Glassell Park, Los Angeles Glendale, California Highland Park, Los Angeles La Cañada Flintridge, California Mount Washington, Los Angeles 1784 in Alta California 1784 establishments in Alta California 18th century in Los Angeles

Geography

History

Historic sites of the Rancho

See also

References

External links