The Estudillo family is a prominent

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

family of

Southern California Southern California (commonly shortened to SoCal) is a geographic and Cultural area, cultural region that generally comprises the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. It includes the Los Angeles metropolitan area, the second most po ...

.San Diego Historical Society - The Estudillo Family
/ref> Members of the family held extensive ranchos and numerous important positions, including

California State Treasurer The state treasurer of California is a constitutional officer in the executive branch of the government of the U.S. state of California. Thirty-five individuals have held the office of state treasurer since statehood. The incumbent is Fiona Ma, a ...

Mayor of San Diego The mayor of the City of San Diego is the official head and chief executive officer of the U.S. city of San Diego, California. The mayor has the duty to enforce and execute the laws enacted by the San Diego City Council, the legislative branch. ...

, and Commandant of the

Presidio of San Diego El Presidio Real de San Diego (Royal Presidio of San Diego) is a historic fort in San Diego, California. It was established on May 14, 1769, by Gaspar de Portolá, leader of the first European land exploration of Alta California—at that time an ...

Notable members

José María Estudillo

José María Estudillo José María Estudillo (died April 8, 1830) was a Spanish-born Californio military officer and early settler of San Diego. He is the founder of the Estudillo family of California and served as Commandant of the Presidio of San Diego. Life Comm ...

is the founder of the family. He was one of the first settlers of

San Diego San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a 2020 population of 1,386,932, it is the List of United States cities by population, eigh ...

and a celebrated military officer. He served twice as Commandant of the Presidio of San Diego (1820-1821 and 1827-1830). He built the Casa de Estudillo of San Diego, a National Historical Landmark. During an 1823 expedition through the

Coachella Valley , map_image = Wpdms shdrlfi020l coachella valley.jpg , map_caption = Coachella Valley , location = California, United States , coordinates = , width = , boundaries = Salton Sea (southeast), Santa Rosa Mountains (southwest), San Jacint ...

, he first recorded the existence of thermal springs near modern-day

Palm Springs, California Palm Springs (Cahuilla: ''Séc-he'') is a desert resort city in Riverside County, California, United States, within the Colorado Desert's Coachella Valley. The city covers approximately , making it the largest city in Riverside County by land a ...

.
here for Table of Contents

José Joaquín Estudillo

José Joaquín Estudillo José Joaquín Estudillo (May 7, 1800 – June 7, 1852) was a Californio statesman and ranchero who served as the 2nd Alcalde of San Francisco (then known as Yerba Buena). A member of the prominent Estudillo family of California, he is also co ...

was born in

Monterey Monterey (; es, Monterrey; Ohlone: ) is a city located in Monterey County on the southern edge of Monterey Bay on the U.S. state of California's Central Coast. Founded on June 3, 1770, it functioned as the capital of Alta California under both ...

in 1800. He enlisted as an officer at aged 15 and served at the

Presidio of Monterey The Presidio of Monterey (POM), located in Monterey, California, is an active US Army installation with historic ties to the Spanish colonial era. Currently, it is the home of the Defense Language Institute Foreign Language Center (DLI-FLC) ...

. He later served one term as

Alcalde of San Francisco Alcalde (; ) is the traditional Spanish municipal magistrate, who had both judicial and administrative functions. An ''alcalde'' was, in the absence of a corregidor, the presiding officer of the Castilian '' cabildo'' (the municipal council) an ...

(mayor) from 1835 to 1836. He was in charge of the secularization of

Mission San Francisco de Asís Mission San Francisco de Asís ( es, Misión San Francisco de Asís), commonly known as Mission Dolores (as it was founded near the Dolores creek), is a Spanish Californian mission and the oldest surviving structure in San Francisco. Located i ...

at the beginning of 1835. He was granted

Rancho San Leandro Rancho San Leandro was a Mexican land grant in present-day Alameda County, California given in 1842 by Governor Juan Alvarado to José Joaquín Estudillo. The grant extended along the east San Francisco Bay from San Leandro Creek south to San Lor ...

in Contra Costa in 1837 and later founded the city of

San Leandro San Leandro (Spanish for " St. Leander") is a city in Alameda County, California, United States. It is located in the East Bay of the San Francisco Bay Area; between Oakland to the northwest, and Ashland, Castro Valley, and Hayward to the sout ...

. There he built the Casa de Estudillo of San Leandro, a Californian Historic Landmark.

José Antonio Estudillo

José Antonio Estudillo José Antonio Estudillo (November 5, 1803 – July 20, 1852) was a Californio ranchero, politician, and soldier, who served as Alcalde of San Diego and as San Diego County Assessor. He was a member of the Estudillo family of California, a pro ...

was born in

in 1803. He enlisted as a soldier at the

. He served one term as Alcalde of San Diego (mayor), from 1837 to 1839, and twice as acting mayor, in 1845 and 1846. He was granted

Rancho Janal Rancho Janal was a Mexican land grant in present day San Diego County, California given in 1829 by Governor José María de Echeandía to José Antonio Estudillo. The grant was located near present day Otay Mesa. A large portion of the grant is ...

in 1829 and

Rancho San Jacinto Viejo Rancho San Jacinto Viejo was a Ranchos of California, Mexican land grant in present-day Riverside County, California given in 1842 by Governor Pro-tem Manuel Jimeno to José Antonio Estudillo. At the time of the US Patent, Rancho San Jacinto Viej ...

in 1842. He served as the first

San Diego County San Diego County (), officially the County of San Diego, is a county in the southwestern corner of the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 census, the population was 3,298,634, making it California's second-most populous county and the fi ...

Assessor in 1850.

José Guadalupe Estudillo

José Guadalupe Estudillo was born in

in 1838. He served as 10th

(1875 to 1880) and as 13th

(1868 to 1869). He also served as Treasurer of

from 1864 to 1875.

Other members

*Miguel Estudillo served in the

California Senate The California State Senate is the upper house of the California State Legislature, the lower house being the California State Assembly. The State Senate convenes, along with the State Assembly, at the California State Capitol in Sacramento. Due ...

(1908-1910) and the

California State Assembly The California State Assembly is the lower house of the California State Legislature, the upper house being the California State Senate. The Assembly convenes, along with the State Senate, at the California State Capitol in Sacramento. The A ...

(1904-1908). While in the Assembly he authored the legislation giving

Yosemite Yosemite National Park ( ) is an American national park in California, surrounded on the southeast by Sierra National Forest and on the northwest by Stanislaus National Forest. The park is managed by the National Park Service and covers an ar ...

to the federal government for the establishment of a national park. He also served twice as City Attorney of

Riverside, California Riverside is a city in and the county seat of Riverside County, California, United States, in the Inland Empire metropolitan area. It is named for its location beside the Santa Ana River. It is the most populous city in the Inland Empire an ...

(1918-1924 and 1941-1949).

Legacy

2019 Casa de Estudillo bell tower and garden

The Casa de Estudillo in San Diego is a National Historical Landmark.San Diego Union Tribune - Furnishing an Old Town adobe that tells San Diego’s story was a labor of love and perseverance
/ref> The Casa de Estudillo in San Leandro is a

California Historic Landmark A California Historical Landmark (CHL) is a building, structure, site, or place in California that has been determined to have statewide historical landmark significance. Criteria Historical significance is determined by meeting at least one of ...

. The Estudillo Mansion in San Jacinto is open to the public as a museum. The Estudillo House in

Riverside Riverside may refer to: Places Australia * Riverside, Tasmania, a suburb of Launceston, Tasmania Canada * Riverside (electoral district), in the Yukon * Riverside, Calgary, a neighbourhood in Alberta * Riverside, Manitoba, a former rural m ...

is a city landmark.

José Joaquin Estudillo José is a predominantly Spanish and Portuguese form of the given name Joseph. While spelled alike, this name is pronounced differently in each language: Spanish ; Portuguese (or ). In French, the name ''José'', pronounced , is an old vernacul ...

founded the city of

, which is named after his

. Similarly,

founded the town of

San Jacinto, California San Jacinto ( ; ; Spanish for " St. Hyacinth") is a city in Riverside County, California. It is located at the north end of the San Jacinto Valley, with Hemet to its south and Beaumont, California, to its north. The mountains associated with the ...

, which is named after his Rancho San Jacinto. Estudillo Elementary School in San Jacinto is named after

. Estudillo Street in Martinez and

, as well as Estudillo Avenue in

, are named after the family.

References

{{reflist Californios Families from California