Rancho Punta de los Piños 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 present-day Monterey County, California given in 1833 by Governor José Figueroa to José María Armenta, and regranted to José Abrego in 1844 by Governor

Manuel Micheltorena Joseph Manuel María Joaquin Micheltorena y Llano (8 June 1804 – 7 September 1853) was a brigadier general of the Mexican Army, adjutant-general of the same, governor, commandant-general and inspector of the department of Las Californias, then ...

. The name means "Point of the Pines". The grant extended along the

Pacific coast Pacific coast may be used to reference any coastline that borders the Pacific Ocean. Geography Americas Countries on the western side of the Americas have a Pacific coast as their western or southwestern border, except for Panama, where the Pac ...

from Point Piños near Pacific Grove south to Rancho Pescadero.

History

José María Armenta, was born in Mexico in 1761 and was granted the half square league Rancho Punta de Piños in 1833. In 1844 the land was regranted to José Abrego by Governor

. José Abrego (1803–1878) came to California in 1834 with the Hijar-Padres Colony. In 1836, Abrego married Maria Josefa Estrada (1814–1897), daughter of José Raimundo Estrada (1784–) and half sister of

Juan B. Alvarado Juan Bautista Valentín Alvarado y Vallejo (February 14, 1809 – July 13, 1882) was a Californio politician that served as Governor of Alta California from 1837-42. Prior to his term as governor, Alvarado briefly led a movement for independen ...

. José Abrego was administrator of Mission San Antonio in 1833 and 1834, customs officer, member of the Assembly. In 1841 under somewhat mysterious circumstances his wife Maria Josefa Abrego bought Rancho San Jose y Sur Chiquito. José Abrego bought

Rancho San Francisquito Rancho San Francisquito was a Mexican land grant in present-day Santa Clara County, California given in 1839 by Governor Juan Alvarado to Antonio Buelna. The grant was located on the southwest side of San Francisquito Creek and encompasses pre ...

in 1853. José Abrego sold Rancho Punta de Piños to

Thomas O Larkin Thomas Oliver Larkin (September 16, 1802 – October 27, 1858), known in Spanish as Don Tomás Larkin, was an American diplomat and businessman. Larkin served as the only U.S. consul to Alta California during the Mexican era and was covertly inv ...

and three other associates ( Jacob P. Leese, Milton Little, and James H. Gleason) in 1850. By the time of the patent, county sheriff Henry DeGraw had acquired the share of Leese; and Charles Brown had acquired the share of Gleason. 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 Land Act of 1851, a claim for Rancho Punta de Piños was filed by Leese, Little, and Gleason 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 to Henry DeGraw and Charles Brown in 1880. A claim filed by L. E. Pogue and Pacificus Ord with the Land Commission in 1853 was rejected. In 1850, the United States Congress appropriated money to build lighthouses on the west coast. One of these was to be constructed at Point Piños, because of the danger to mariners attempting to enter Monterey Bay from the south. The government bought of the Rancho Punta de los Piños. They later purchased another . Construction began in 1853, but difficulties with the delivery of the Fresnel lens from France delayed the opening of the lighthouse until 1855.

Historic sites of the Rancho

Point Pinos Light Point Pinos Lighthouse was lit on February 1, 1855, to guide ships on the Pacific Ocean, Pacific Coast of California. It is the oldest continuously operating lighthouse on the West Coast of the United States and even the lens is original. Alcatra ...

. Point Piños Light was built in 1855 to guide ships on the Pacific coast.

References

{{California history Punta de Pinos Punta Punta