Rancho Corte Madera del Presidio was a

Mexican land grant The Spanish and Mexican governments made many concessions and land grants in Alta California (now known as California) and Baja California from 1775 to 1846. The Spanish Concessions of land were made to retired soldiers as an inducement fo ...

in present day

Marin County, California Marin County is a County (United States), county located in the northwestern part of the San Francisco Bay Area of the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census, the population was 262,231. Its county seat and ...

given in 1834 by Governor José Figueroa to John (Juan) Reed. Corte Madera del Presidio means the "lumber mill of the Presidio". The grant encompassed what is now southern Corte Madera, Mill Valley, the Tiburon Peninsula, and Strawberry Point. It reached from Point Tiburon to Larkspur Creek, then known as Arroyo Holon.

History

John Thomas Reed (1805 - 1843), a native of

Dublin, Ireland Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of the Wicklow Mountains range. At the 2016 cen ...

, came to San Francisco in 1826 and the one square league grant was made to him in 1834. In 1836, John Reed married Hilaria Sánchez (1817 -1872) who was the sister of alcaldes

Francisco Sanchez Francisco Sanchez may refer to: Sportspeople *Francisco Sánchez (swimmer) (born 1976), Venezuelan who swam at the 1996 and 2000 Summer Olympics *Francisco Sánchez (runner) (born 1958), Spanish steeplechase runner * Francisco Sánchez (boxer) (bor ...

and José de la Cruz Sánchez. Reed was the founder of the sawmill that gave Mill Valley its name. Reed served as administrator of the Mission San Rafael Arcángel from 1836 to 1837. He then set out to build a larger house, in what is now Mill Valley, but died in 1843, at the age of 38, before his house was finished. After Reed's death, Hilaria Sanchez married Bernardino Garcia in 1843. With the cession of California to the United States following the

Mexican-American War Mexican Americans ( es, mexicano-estadounidenses, , or ) are Americans of full or partial Mexicans, Mexican heritage. In 2019, Mexican Americans comprised 11.3% of the US population and 61.5% of all Hispanic and Latino Americans. In 2019, 71% ...

, the 1848 Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo provided that the land grants would be honored. As required by the California Land Act of 1851, a claim for Rancho Corte Madera del Presidio was filed with the

Public Land Commission The California Land Act of 1851 (), enacted following the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo and the admission of California as a state in 1850, established a three-member Public Land Commission to determine the validity of prior Spanish and Mexican la ...

in 1852. The Land Commission confirmed only in 1856, and squatters occupied some of the land. After several lawsuits, the grant was patented for to the heirs of John Reed in four equal undivided parts in 1885. Report of the Surveyor General 1844 - 1886

Historic sites of the Rancho

* Benjamin and Hilarita Lyford House. The house of Reed's daughter, Hilarita, and her husband Dr. Benjamin F. Lyford, built in 1876 and now located in

Tiburon Tiburon (Spanish ''Tiburón'', " shark") may refer to: Places ;United States * Tiburon, California * Tiburón Golf Club Naples, Florida * Tiburon Peninsula (California), a peninsula in the San Francisco Bay Area of California ;Mexico * Tiburón ...

, is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. *Lyford's Stone Tower. Built about 1889 for Dr. Benjamin F. Lyford, retired inventor, physician and scientist, as the gateway to the southern portion of his Utopian tract, "Hygeia, or goddess of Health". *Sawmill. The first sawmill in Marin County, erected by John Reed about 1834, is registered as a California Historical Landmark.

References

{{California history Corte Madera del Presidio Corte Madera del Presidio Corte Madera, California Mill Valley, California Tiburon, California Corte

History

Historic sites of the Rancho

See also

References