Rancho San Lorenzo (Castro)
Rancho San Lorenzo was a 26,722-acre (108.14 km2) Mexican land grant given in 1841 by Governor Juan Alvarado to Guillermo Castro a career soldier posted to the Pueblo of San José. The land grant included present day Hayward, San Lorenzo, and Castro Valley, including Crow Canyon, Cull Canyon, and Palomares Canyons.
![](../I/Hayward_City_Hall_1_commemorative_plaque.jpg.webp)
History
The grant was located on the route of El Camino Viejo.
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 San Lorenzo was filed with the Public Land Commission in 1852,[1][2] and the grant was patented to Guillermo Castro in 1865.[3]
Soon after, Castro began to sell off his land to pay debts. The last of his holding was sold in a sheriff's sale in 1864 to Faxon Atherton. Atherton in turn began selling off his portion in smaller parcels.[4]
Rancho San Lorenzo (Sota)
Guillermo and Maria Louisa Peralta Castro owned Rancho San Lorenzo Alta. Francisco and Barbara Soto owned an adjacent rancho called Rancho San Lorenzo Baja - sometimes called San Lorenzito, or Little San Lorenzo. Barbara Soto was Guillermo Castro's sister.[5] Soto's grant was patented at 6,686 acres (27 km2) in 1877.
See also
- Ranchos of Alameda County, California
References
- United States. District Court (California : Northern District)Land Case 29 ND
- Finding Aid to the Documents Pertaining to the Adjudication of Private Land Claims in California, circa 1852-1892
- Report of the Surveyor General 1844 - 1886 Archived 2013-03-20 at the Wayback Machine
- Lorge, L, Phelps, R, Weston, D. "Castro Valley" Arcadia Publishing, 2005. 128 pp.
- Rancho San Lorenzo Alta and Rancho San Lorenzo Baja Archived 2010-05-16 at the Wayback Machine