Rancho Los Alamitos
Rancho Los Alamitos | |
Location | 6400 Bixby Hill Rd., Long Beach, California |
---|---|
Coordinates | 33°46′36″N 118°6′25″W / 33.77667°N 118.10694°W |
Area | 7.4 acres (3.0 ha) |
Built | between 1800 and 1834 |
Architectural style | Spanish Colonial |
Website | www |
NRHP reference No. | 81000153[1] |
Added to NRHP | July 7, 1981 |
Rancho Los Alamitos takes its name from an 1834
Rancho Los Alamitos originally included much of the area of present-day eastern Long Beach, all of Los Alamitos and Rossmoor, and most of Seal Beach, Cypress, Stanton and Garden Grove.[2] It is also sometimes referred to as Bixby Ranch, after its last private owners. The early 19th century adobe ranch house still stands today, housing a museum which presents the history of the area.
History
The history of the 28,000-acre (110 km2) Rancho Los Alamitos is almost a microcosm for the history of expansion throughout
Rancho Los Alamitos was one of five ranchos that resulted from the partition of the original Rancho Los Nietos grant given to Manuel Nieto, a former sergeant in the Spanish army, in 1784 by governor Pedro Fages, coincidentally his former commander.[6] Nieto's grant was not only one of the first three awarded by the Spanish in Alta California, it was also the largest. After Nieto died, his children requested his original grant be partitioned. In 1834, Mexican governor José Figueroa officially declared Rancho Los Alamitos as one of the five partitions.
In 1844 the rancho was purchased by
The rancho was on the periphery of the battles that settled the
With the
to Abel Stearns Aug. 29, 1874, for 28,027.17 acres.After a disastrous drought in the 1860s, Stearns lost control of the ranch which was then sub-let to a number of farmers until the early 1880s when John William Bixby,[10] a cousin of Jotham Bixby and Llewellyn Bixby who controlled the adjacent Rancho Los Cerritos, bought the rancho along with a group which included his cousins and Isaias Hellman, the founder of the Farmers and Merchants Bank of Los Angeles.
Trying to capitalize on the 1880s Southern California land boom, John Bixby developed the townsite of Alamitos Beach, which would eventually be assumed by Long Beach. Before Bixby could do much more he died suddenly in 1888, apparently due to an appendicitis attack, and Rancho Los Alamitos was separated between three major parties. The developed Alamitos Beach properties were shared equally, while John Bixby's heirs kept the central section of the remaining rancho, the Bixby cousins from Rancho Los Cerritos assumed control of the northern section, and Hellman took control of the southern lands around present day Seal Beach. Unfortunately, a financial crisis prevented the various parties from seriously pursuing John Bixby's dream of developing Alamitos Beach.
The Bixbys had once flirted with
The historic ranch house, surrounding ranching facilities, and some open landscape of Rancho Los Alamitos can still be found adjacent to Cal State Long Beach.[11] The Bixby family descendants donated the property to the City of Long Beach in 1967.[12]
Historic sites of the Rancho
The early 19th century
See also
- Los Cerritos Ranch House
- List of City of Long Beach Historic Landmarks
- List of Ranchos of California
- Ranchos of Orange County
- Ranchos of Los Angeles County
References
- ^ "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. July 9, 2010.
- ^ U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: Rancho Los Alamitos
- ^ "Ownership and Occupancy". Rancho Los Alamitos. Retrieved 2012-10-23.
- ^ "History of the Site". Rancho Los Alamitos. Retrieved 2012-10-23.
- ^ "Landslide 2007: Heroes of Horticulture / The Cultural Landscape Foundation". www.tclf.org.
- ^ "Spanish and Mexican Ranchos of Orange County" (PDF). Ocrecorder.com. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2007-08-12. Retrieved 2012-10-23.
- ^ "Barns Area Restoration & Rancho Center Project". rancholosalamitos.com.
- ^ United States. District Court (California : Southern District) Land Case 290 SD
- ^ Finding Aid to the Documents Pertaining to the Adjudication of Private Land Claims in California, circa 1852-1892
- ^ "John William Bixby (1848-1887) - Find a Grave..." www.findagrave.com.
- ^ "The Ranch House". Rancho Los Alamitos. Retrieved 2012-10-23.
- ^ Payne, Niki (February 13, 2009). "Rancho a Hidden Gem". Beachcomber. p. 7.
- ^ "Rancho Los Alamitos". Rancho Los Alamitos. Retrieved 2012-10-23.
- ^ "Rancho Los Alamitos". Rancho Los Alamitos. Retrieved 2012-10-23.
External links
- Official Rancho Los Alamitos: Historic Ranch and Gardens website
- Rancho Los Alamitos: Historical and Architectural Narrative. (33pg. pdf)
- National Park Service Teaching with Historic Places (TwHP) lesson plan: “Californio to American: A Study in Cultural Change”
- National Park Service Discover Our Shared Heritage Travel Itinerary: Early History of the California Coast
- Rancho Los Alamitos: History Timeline of Ownership & Occupants