Rancho Las Cienegas
Encyclopedia
Rancho Las Cienegas was a 4439 acres (18 km²) Mexican land grant
in present day Los Angeles County, California
given in 1823 to Francisco Avila. "La Cienega" is derived from the Spanish word cienaga, which means swamp
or marsh
land and refers to the natural spring
s and wetlands in the area between the Baldwin Hills range
and Baldwin Hills district, and Beverly Hills
. The rancho was north of Rancho La Cienega o Paso de la Tijera
and east of present day La Cienega Boulevard
between Wilshire Boulevard
and Jefferson Boulevard
. The Los Angeles River
would periodically change course historically, and flowed through the rancho's lowlands to Ballona Creek
and the Santa Monica Bay
until 1825, when it returned to the flowing through Rancho San Pedro
to San Pedro Bay
.
, was a native of Sonora y Sinaloa
, New Spain
-Mexico. Francisco Avila came to the Pueblo de Los Angeles
in Las Californias
sometime after 1794. In 1810, Francisco Avila became alcalde of Los Angeles. In 1823, the new Mexican government granted him Rancho Las Cienegas in Alta California
, approximately seven miles west of the pueblo. Avila grazed cattle here and turned it into a profitable venture. Francisco Avila died in 1832.
With the cession
of California to the United States following the Mexican-American War, 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 Las Cienegas was filed with the Public Land Commission
in 1853, and the grant was patented
to his four children (Januario Avila, Pedra Avila de Ramirez, Francisca Avila de Rimpau, and Louisa Avila de Garfias) in 1871.
A partition suit in 1866 resulted in Januario Avila, 1/5 share, Francisca Avila de Rimpau 1/5 share, Henry H Gird 1/5 share, and the remaining 2/5 share between 10 people.
Januario Avila, owned the north east section of the rancho, including the land that was to become Victoria Park
. Francisca Avila married Theodore Rimpau, a native of Germany
. In the 1920s, Theodore's sons Adolf, Benjamin and Fred formed Rimpau Brothers Realty on Pico Boulevard
and subdivided their part of Rancho Las Cienegas. Henry H Gird purchased nearly 1000 acres (4 km²) of Rancho Las Cienegas in 1862, and lived there until 1880, when Gird sold and moved his family to Rancho Monserate
in San Diego County
. Luisa Avila, the daughter of Francisco and María Encarnación Sepúlveda Avila married Manuel Garfias owner of Rancho San Pascual
.
Ranchos of California
The Spanish, and later the Méxican government encouraged settlement of territory now known as California by the establishment of large land grants called ranchos, from which the English ranch is derived. Devoted to raising cattle and sheep, the owners of the ranchos attempted to pattern themselves...
in present day Los Angeles County, California
Los Angeles County, California
Los Angeles County is a county in the U.S. state of California. As of 2010 U.S. Census, the county had a population of 9,818,605, making it the most populous county in the United States. Los Angeles County alone is more populous than 42 individual U.S. states...
given in 1823 to Francisco Avila. "La Cienega" is derived from the Spanish word cienaga, which means swamp
Swamp
A swamp is a wetland with some flooding of large areas of land by shallow bodies of water. A swamp generally has a large number of hammocks, or dry-land protrusions, covered by aquatic vegetation, or vegetation that tolerates periodical inundation. The two main types of swamp are "true" or swamp...
or marsh
Marsh
In geography, a marsh, or morass, is a type of wetland that is subject to frequent or continuous flood. Typically the water is shallow and features grasses, rushes, reeds, typhas, sedges, other herbaceous plants, and moss....
land and refers to the natural spring
Spring (hydrosphere)
A spring—also known as a rising or resurgence—is a component of the hydrosphere. Specifically, it is any natural situation where water flows to the surface of the earth from underground...
s and wetlands in the area between the Baldwin Hills range
Baldwin Hills (mountain range)
The Baldwin Hills are a low mountain range surrounded by and rising above the Los Angeles Basin plain in central Los Angeles County, California...
and Baldwin Hills district, and Beverly Hills
Beverly Hills, California
Beverly Hills is an affluent city located in Los Angeles County, California, United States. With a population of 34,109 at the 2010 census, up from 33,784 as of the 2000 census, it is home to numerous Hollywood celebrities. Beverly Hills and the neighboring city of West Hollywood are together...
. The rancho was north of Rancho La Cienega o Paso de la Tijera
Rancho La Cienega o Paso de la Tijera
Rancho La Cienega o Paso de la Tijera was a Mexican land grant in present day Los Angeles County, California given in 1843 by Governor Manuel Micheltorena to Vicente Sánchez...
and east of present day La Cienega Boulevard
La Cienega Boulevard
La Cienega Boulevard is a major, well-known north–south arterial road that runs between El Segundo Boulevard in El Segundo, California on the south and the Sunset Strip/Sunset Boulevard in West Hollywood....
between Wilshire Boulevard
Wilshire Boulevard
Wilshire Boulevard is one of the principal east-west arterial roads in Los Angeles, California, United States. It was named for Henry Gaylord Wilshire , an Ohio native who made and lost fortunes in real estate, farming, and gold mining. Henry Wilshire initiated what was to become Wilshire...
and Jefferson Boulevard
Jefferson Boulevard
Jefferson Boulevard is a street in Los Angeles and Culver City. Its eastern terminus is at Central Avenue east of Exposition Park. At its entrance to Culver City, it splits with National Boulevard. North of Sawtelle Boulevard, it merges with Sepulveda Boulevard...
. The Los Angeles River
Los Angeles River
The Los Angeles River is a river that starts in the San Fernando Valley, in the Simi Hills and Santa Susana Mountains, and flows through Los Angeles County, California, from Canoga Park in the western end of the San Fernando Valley, nearly southeast to its mouth in Long Beach...
would periodically change course historically, and flowed through the rancho's lowlands to Ballona Creek
Ballona Creek
Ballona Creek is an waterway in southwestern Los Angeles County, California, whose watershed drains the Los Angeles basin, from the Santa Monica Mountains on the north, the Harbor Freeway on the east, and the Baldwin Hills on the south...
and the Santa Monica Bay
Santa Monica Bay
Santa Monica Bay is a bight of the Pacific Ocean in southern California, United States. Its boundaries are slightly ambiguous, but it is generally considered to be the part of the Pacific within an imaginary line drawn between Point Dume, in Malibu, and the Palos Verdes Peninsula. Its eastern...
until 1825, when it returned to the flowing through Rancho San Pedro
Rancho San Pedro
Rancho San Pedro was one of the first California land grants, and the first to win a patent from the United States. The land grant was validated by the Mexican government at in 1828, and a US patent validating was issued in 1858...
to San Pedro Bay
San Pedro Bay (California)
San Pedro Bay is an inlet on the Pacific Ocean coast of southern California, United States. It is the site of the Port of Los Angeles and the Port of Long Beach, which together form the fifth-busiest port facility in the world and easily the busiest in the Western Hemisphere...
.
History
Francisco Avila (1772–1832), one of several sons of Cornelio AvilaCornelio Avila
Cornelio Avila was the founder of a large and prominent southern California family.-Cornelio Avila:Cornelio Avila was born in Villa Del Fuerte, Mexico...
, was a native of Sonora y Sinaloa
Sonora y Sinaloa
Sonora y Sinaloa was a province in the Provincias Internas and under the jurisdiction of the Real Audiencia of Guadalajara of Viceroyalty of New Spain. After Independence Sonora y Sinaloa became one of the constituent states of the Mexican Republic...
, New Spain
New Spain
New Spain, formally called the Viceroyalty of New Spain , was a viceroyalty of the Spanish colonial empire, comprising primarily territories in what was known then as 'América Septentrional' or North America. Its capital was Mexico City, formerly Tenochtitlan, capital of the Aztec Empire...
-Mexico. Francisco Avila came to the Pueblo de Los Angeles
Pueblo de Los Angeles
El Pueblo de Nuestra Señora la Reina de los Ángeles was the Spanish civilian pueblo founded in 1781, which by the 20th century became the American metropolis of Los Angeles....
in Las Californias
Las Californias
The Californias, or in — - was the name given by the Spanish to their northwestern territory of New Spain, comprising the present day states of Baja California and Baja California Sur on the Baja California Peninsula in Mexico; and the present day U.S. state of California in the United States of...
sometime after 1794. In 1810, Francisco Avila became alcalde of Los Angeles. In 1823, the new Mexican government granted him Rancho Las Cienegas in Alta California
Alta California
Alta California was a province and territory in the Viceroyalty of New Spain and later a territory and department in independent Mexico. The territory was created in 1769 out of the northern part of the former province of Las Californias, and consisted of the modern American states of California,...
, approximately seven miles west of the pueblo. Avila grazed cattle here and turned it into a profitable venture. Francisco Avila died in 1832.
With the cession
Mexican Cession
The Mexican Cession of 1848 is a historical name in the United States for the region of the present day southwestern United States that Mexico ceded to the U.S...
of California to the United States following the Mexican-American War, the 1848 Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo
Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo
The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo is the peace treaty, largely dictated by the United States to the interim government of a militarily occupied Mexico City, that ended the Mexican-American War on February 2, 1848...
provided that the land grants would be honored. As required by the Land Act of 1851, a claim for Rancho Las Cienegas was filed with the Public Land Commission
Public Land Commission
The Public Land Commission, a former agency of the United States government, was created following the admission of California as a state in 1850 . The Commission's purpose was to determine the validity of prior Spanish and Mexican land grants in California.California Senator William M...
in 1853, and the grant was patented
Land patent
A land patent is a land grant made patent by the sovereign lord over the land in question. To make a such a grant “patent”, such a sovereign lord must document the land grant, securely sign and seal the document and openly publish the same to the public for all to see...
to his four children (Januario Avila, Pedra Avila de Ramirez, Francisca Avila de Rimpau, and Louisa Avila de Garfias) in 1871.
A partition suit in 1866 resulted in Januario Avila, 1/5 share, Francisca Avila de Rimpau 1/5 share, Henry H Gird 1/5 share, and the remaining 2/5 share between 10 people.
Januario Avila, owned the north east section of the rancho, including the land that was to become Victoria Park
Victoria Park, Los Angeles, California
Victoria Park is a small, semi-gated neighborhood that is centrally located in Los Angeles, California. It is 2.5 miles south of Hollywood and 3.5 miles west of downtown Los Angeles...
. Francisca Avila married Theodore Rimpau, a native of Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
. In the 1920s, Theodore's sons Adolf, Benjamin and Fred formed Rimpau Brothers Realty on Pico Boulevard
Pico Boulevard
Pico Boulevard is a major Los Angeles street that runs from the Pacific Ocean at Appian Way in Santa Monica to Central Avenue in Downtown Los Angeles, California, USA...
and subdivided their part of Rancho Las Cienegas. Henry H Gird purchased nearly 1000 acres (4 km²) of Rancho Las Cienegas in 1862, and lived there until 1880, when Gird sold and moved his family to Rancho Monserate
Rancho Monserate
Rancho Monserate was a Mexican land grant in present day San Diego County, California given in 1846 by Governor Pío Pico to Ysidro María Alvarado. The grant extended south and east of the present day Fallbrook down to the San Luis Rey River...
in San Diego County
San Diego County, California
San Diego County is a large county located in the southwestern corner of the US state of California. Hence, San Diego County is also located in the southwestern corner of the 48 contiguous United States. Its county seat and largest city is San Diego. Its population was about 2,813,835 in the 2000...
. Luisa Avila, the daughter of Francisco and María Encarnación Sepúlveda Avila married Manuel Garfias owner of Rancho San Pascual
Rancho San Pascual
Rancho San Pascual also known as Rancho el Rincon de San Pascual was a Mexican land grant in present day Los Angeles County, California given to Juan Marine in 1834 by José Figueroa...
.
See also
- Miracle Mile, Los Angeles
- Ranchos of CaliforniaRanchos of CaliforniaThe Spanish, and later the Méxican government encouraged settlement of territory now known as California by the establishment of large land grants called ranchos, from which the English ranch is derived. Devoted to raising cattle and sheep, the owners of the ranchos attempted to pattern themselves...
- List of Ranchos of California