Rancho San Ysidro was a
Spanish land grant in present-day
Santa Clara County, California
Santa Clara County, officially the County of Santa Clara, is the sixth-most populous county in the U.S. state of California, with a population of 1,936,259, as of the 2020 census. Santa Clara County and neighboring San Benito County together ...
, given in 1809 by Governor
José Joaquín de Arrillaga to Ygnacio Ortega. Today's city of
Gilroy is on former Rancho Ysidro lands, as is nearby
Old Gilroy.
History
Ygnacio Ortega (1764–1829) was the son of
José Francisco Ortega José Francisco Ortega (1734 – February 1798) was an indigenous Californio soldier and early settler of Alta California. He joined the military at the age of twenty-one and rose to the rank of sergeant by the time he joined the Portola expedition ...
. Ygnacio became a soldier and married Gertrudis Arce (born 1772). In the 1790 California census, he is listed as mayordomo (foreman) at the
Mission San Gabriel
Mission (from Latin ''missio'' "the act of sending out") may refer to:
Organised activities Religion
*Christian mission, an organized effort to spread Christianity
* Mission (LDS Church), an administrative area of The Church of Jesus Christ of ...
. After Ygnacio's death in 1833, with Alta California under Mexican rule, Governor
José Figueroa
José Figueroa (1792 – 29 September 1835), was a General and the Mexican Governor of Alta California from 1833 to 1835. He wrote the first book to be published in California.
Background and governorship
Figueroa was a Mestizo of Spanish ...
divided Rancho Ysidro among his three children (and their spouses).
John Gilroy (1794–1869), born in
Scotland
Scotland (, ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a Anglo-Scottish border, border with England to the southeast ...
as John Cameron, was one of the first English-speaking residents of Alta California, having arrived in
Monterey, California in 1814. He took his mother's maiden name, and was later baptized as "Juan Bautista Gilroy". In 1821 he married Clara Ortega. With brothers-in-law Quintin Ortega and Julian Cantua, Gilroy made soap near San Felipe Lake (also called Upper Soap Lake), which he traded along with onions and flour from his gristmill to
Thomas O Larkin of Monterey.
Captain
John C. Frémont and his troops passed through Rancho San Ysidro on their way south in November 1846 during the
Mexican American War
Mexican may refer to:
Mexico and its culture
*Being related to, from, or connected to the country of Mexico, in North America
** People
*** Mexicans, inhabitants of the country Mexico and their descendants
*** Mexica, ancient indigenous people ...
. They appropriated most of Gilroy's horses. John Gilroy served as an auxiliary alcalde and later as justice of the peace. When the town was incorporated in 1868, citizens honored Gilroy by naming their town after him. His adobe house, said to have been built in 1825, was located in what is now called "Old Gilroy" or "San Ysidro", 2 miles east of Gilroy. In later years Gilroy lost his property, and he died almost penniless in 1869.
The railroad arrived in 1869, making the community the hub of South Santa Clara County. With the completion of the railroad and the demise of John Gilroy, the growth of the community of San Ysidro shifted two miles west. The new Town of Gilroy was officially incorporated in 1870, becoming the largest community in Santa Clara County with a brewery, flouring mill and a distillery.
Historic sites of the Rancho
* Christian Church of Gilroy was built in 1857, and is the oldest wood-framed church in Santa Clara County in continuous use.
*
Gilroy Free Library
* Live Oak Creamery
* Old City Hall was completed in 1906
References
{{California history
San Ysidro
San Ysidro
Gilroy, California
San Ysidro