Rancho Piedra Blanca was a large,

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 present-day

San Luis Obispo County, California San Luis Obispo County (), officially the County of San Luis Obispo, is a County (United States), county on the Central Coast (California), Central Coast of California. As of the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census, the population was 282, ...

given in 1840 by Governor Juan Alvarado to José de Jesús Pico. The name means "white rock" and refers to rocks painted white by its bird population. The grant extended south along the

Pacific The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the continen ...

Coast below

Big Sur Big Sur () is a rugged and mountainous section of the Central Coast of California between Carmel and San Simeon, where the Santa Lucia Mountains rise abruptly from the Pacific Ocean. It is frequently praised for its dramatic scenery. Big Sur ha ...

from Ragged Point to Pico Creek (formerly Arroyo del Pinal), where it adjoins

Rancho San Simeon Rancho San Simeon was a Mexican land grant in present-day San Luis Obispo County, California given in 1842 by Governor Juan Alvarado to José Ramón Estrada. The grant extended along the Pacific Coast from Rancho Piedra Blanca at Pico Creek, ...

. The land grant includes the original townsite and post office for

San Simeon San Simeon (Spanish: ''San Simeón'', meaning "St. Simon") is a village and Census-designated place on the Pacific coast of San Luis Obispo County, California, United States. Its position along State Route 1 is about halfway between Los Angeles ...

, the

Hearst Ranch Hearst may refer to: Places * Hearst, former name of Hacienda, California, United States * Hearst, Ontario, town in Northern Ontario, Canada * Hearst, California, an unincorporated community in Mendocino County, United States * Hearst Island, an i ...

headquarters, and

Hearst Castle Hearst Castle, known formally as La Cuesta Encantada (Spanish for "The Enchanted Hill"), is a historic estate in San Simeon, located on the Central Coast of California. Conceived by William Randolph Hearst, the publishing tycoon, and his archit ...

History

José de Jesús Pico (1806-1892), a member of the

Pico family of California The Pico family is a prominent Californio family of Southern California. Members of the family held extensive rancho grants and numerous important positions, including Governor of Alta California, signer of the Constitution of California, and ...

(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), was the son of Jose Dolores Pico and Isabel Cota. He 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 1806. His brother,

Antonio Maria Pico Antonio is a masculine given name of Etruscan origin deriving from the root name Antonius. It is a common name among Romance language-speaking populations as well as the Balkans and Lusophone Africa. It has been among the top 400 most popular male ...

, was the grantee of Rancho Pescadero. Another brother was the bandit

Salomon Pico Salomon may refer to: People * Salomon (given name) * Salomon (surname) Companies * Salomon Brothers, a former investment bank, now a part of Citigroup * Salomon Group, a company manufacturing sporting equipment (which was a part of Adidas-Salom ...

. José de Jesús Pico was a soldier, and married Francisca Zaviera Trinidad Antonia Gabriela Villavicencio (b. 1813) in 1832. Originally part of the Mission San Miguel coastal grazing land, the eleven square league Rancho Piedra Blanca was granted to Pico in 1840. In 1841 Pico was appointed administrator of Mission San Miguel. 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 Piedra Blanca 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 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 José de Jesús Pico in 1876. Pico sold parts of the rancho to Mariano Pacheco, Juan Castro, Peter Gillis and others. In 1865,

George Hearst George Hearst (September 3, 1820 – February 28, 1891) was an American businessman, miner, and politician. After growing up on a small farm in Missouri, he founded many mining operations, and is known for developing and expanding the Hom ...

(1820 – 1891), a successful miner during the

California Gold Rush The California Gold Rush (1848–1855) was a gold rush that began on January 24, 1848, when gold was found by James W. Marshall at Sutter's Mill in Coloma, California. The news of gold brought approximately 300,000 people to California fro ...

era and later a US Senator, started to acquire land in the area. By 1865, of the rancho had already been sold, but Hearst was able to buy of Rancho Piedra Blanca from Pico. Hearst continued to buy lots whenever they became available. He also bought most of

, and part of Rancho Santa Rosa.

Historic sites of the Rancho

Piedras Blancas Light Station Piedras Blancas Light Station is located at Point Piedras Blancas, about west by northwest of San Simeon, California. It was added to the California Coastal National Monument in 2017. History and management The first-order Fresnel lens at Pied ...

Sebastian Store The Sebastian Store is a California Historical Landmark (#726). It is the oldest store building along the north coast of San Luis Obispo County San Luis Obispo County (), officially the County of San Luis Obispo, is a county on the Centra ...

, San Simeon, established 1852.History of Sebastian's Store
/ref> *

References

{{California history Piedra Blanca Piedra Blanca Hearst family residences

History

Historic sites of the Rancho

See also

References