Rancho San Ramon (St. Raymond Ranch in Spanish) 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 for ...

in the southern

San Ramon Valley The San Ramon Valley is a valley and region in Contra Costa County and Alameda County, in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area in northern California. Geography The valley is between the Oakland Hills on the west, and the Diablo Rang ...

of present-day

Contra Costa County, California ) of the San Francisco Bay , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = United States , subdivision_type1 = State , subdivision_name1 = California , subdivision_type2 ...

Rancho San Ramon (Pacheco-Castro) Rancho San Ramon (St. Raymond Ranch in Spanish) was a Mexican land grant in the northern San Ramon Valley of present-day Contra Costa County, California. Rancho San Ramon (Amador) was adjacent in the southern San Ramon Valley. It was given in 1 ...

was adjacent in the northern San Ramon Valley. It was given in 1834 by Governor

Jose Figueroa Jose is the English transliteration of the Hebrew and Aramaic name ''Yose'', which is etymologically linked to ''Yosef'' or Joseph. The name was popular during the Mishnaic and Talmudic periods. * Jose ben Abin * Jose ben Akabya *Jose the Galile ...

Jose Maria Amador Jose is the English transliteration of the Hebrew and Aramaic name ''Yose'', which is etymologically linked to ''Yosef'' or Joseph. The name was popular during the Mishnaic and Talmudic periods. *Jose ben Abin *Jose ben Akabya *Jose the Galilean ...

. The five-square-league (60 square miles) San Ramon grant stretched down the

from what is now southern Danville on the north to

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

on the south, and from the crest of the western ridge to the crest of the east, and encompassed present-day Dougherty Valley. The Dublin area was called "Amador" for many years.

José María Amador

José María Amador José María Amador (1794 – 1883) was a Californio ranchero, gold miner, and soldier. Amador County and Amador City are both named after Amador, having found gold there in 1848. He is also the namesake of Amador Valley (home to the cities o ...

(1794-1883), born at the

Presidio of San Francisco The Presidio of San Francisco (originally, El Presidio Real de San Francisco or The Royal Fortress of Saint Francis) is a park and former U.S. Army post on the northern tip of the San Francisco Peninsula in San Francisco, California, and is part o ...

, one of the youngest of eleven children of Pedro Amador and Ramona Noriega. He very probably named his ranch after his mother and his maternal grandfather, Ramón Noriega. He was a younger brother of

Sinforosa Amador Sinforosa Eyang Nguema Nchama (born 26 April 1994), also known as Mirey and La Mirey de Fifi, is an Equatoguinean singer and football manager and former player who coaches Huracanes FC in the Equatoguinean women's league. Eyang was a midfield ...

(1788-1841).

Amador County Amador County () is a county located in the U.S. state of California, in the Sierra Nevada. As of the 2020 census, the population was 40,474. The county seat is Jackson. Amador County, located within California's Gold Country, is known as "The ...

was named in his memory. He spent his early years as a soldier and explorer, serving in the army of

Nueva España New Spain, officially the Viceroyalty of New Spain ( es, Virreinato de Nueva España, ), or Kingdom of New Spain, was an integral territorial entity of the Spanish Empire, established by Habsburg Spain during the Spanish colonization of the Amer ...

, and was later administrator at the

Mission San José Mission San José may refer to: *Mission San José (California), a Spanish mission in Fremont, California * Mission San Jose, Fremont, California, a neighborhood * Mission San Jose High School, a high school in Fremont, California *Mission San José ...

. Amador was married three times and had 22 children. He built several adobes at his rancho headquarters near Alamilla Springs in today’s Dublin, including a two-story adobe which was used by James Dougherty in the 1860s. With the

cession The act of cession is the assignment of property to another entity. In international law it commonly refers to land transferred by treaty. Ballentine's Law Dictionary defines cession as "a surrender; a giving up; a relinquishment of jurisdictio ...

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 The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo ( es, Tratado de Guadalupe Hidalgo), officially the Treaty of Peace, Friendship, Limits, and Settlement between the United States of America and the United Mexican States, is the peace treaty that was signed on 2 ...

provided that the land grants would be honored. As required by the Land Act of 1851, a claim for Rancho San Ramon 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, and of the grant was

patented A patent is a type of intellectual property that gives its owner the legal right to exclude others from making, using, or selling an invention for a limited period of time in exchange for publishing an enabling disclosure of the invention."A p ...

to Jose Maria Amador in 1865. Amador gradually sold his rancho. James Witt Dougherty bought in 1852.

San Ramon (Norris)

In 1850, Leo and Mary Jane Norris purchased one square league of land on the northwest corner of the rancho from Amador. A claim was filed with the Land Commission in 1852 and was patented to Leo Norris in 1882.Finding Aid to the Documents Pertaining to the Adjudication of Private Land Claims in California, circa 1852-1892
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References

{{Contra Costa County, California San Ramon Amador San Ramon Danville, California Dublin, California San Ramon

José María Amador

San Ramon (Norris)

See also

References