Rancho La Providencia 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

Los Angeles County, California Los Angeles County, officially the County of Los Angeles, and sometimes abbreviated as L.A. County, is the List of the most populous counties in the United States, most populous county in the United States and in the U.S. state of California, ...

given by governor

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 ...

in 1843 to Vincente de la Osa. The majority of Rancho Providencia land north of the modern channel of the

Los Angeles River , name_etymology = , image = File:Los Angeles River from Fletcher Drive Bridge 2019.jpg , image_caption = L.A. River from Fletcher Drive Bridge , image_size = 300 , map = LARmap.jpg , map_size ...

is now part of Burbank. The street grid change along Burbank Boulevard marks the northwestern boundary of the rancho grant. The Walt Disney Studios,

Warner Bros. Studios Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (commonly known as Warner Bros. or abbreviated as WB) is an American film and entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, California, and a subsidiary of Warner Bros. D ...

, NBC Studios Burbank, Providence High School, and

Providence Saint Joseph Medical Center Providence Saint Joseph Medical Center is a Catholic hospital in Burbank, California. The hospital has 446 beds, and is part of Providence Health & Services. Its address is 501 South Buena Vista Street, Burbank, California 91505. On the oppo ...

are all within the former boundaries of Rancho Providencia. The Burbank Equestrian Center and portions of the Rancho south of the river are now part of the city of

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

.Bearchell, Charles, and Larry D. Fried: ''The San Fernando Valley Then and Now'', Windsor Publications, 1988, , p. 94-96

History

In 1834, Vicente de la Ossa (January 6, 1808 - 1861) was elected as Los Angeles councilman and served in this capacity for two years. In 1843, he was granted the one square league Rancho Providencia located northwest of the

pueblo In the Southwestern United States, Pueblo (capitalized) refers to the Native tribes of Puebloans having fixed-location communities with permanent buildings which also are called pueblos (lowercased). The Spanish explorers of northern New Spain ...

. In 1849 de la Ossa sold Rancho La Providencia to David W. Alexander, and bought an approximate third of

Rancho Los Encinos Rancho Los Encinos (also Rancho El Encino and Rancho Encino) was a Spanish grazing concession, and later Mexican land granted cattle and sheep rancho and travelers way-station on the El Camino Real in the San Fernando Valley, in present-day En ...

. 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 Providencia 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 David W. Alexander and

Francis Mellus Francis Mellus (February 3, 1824 – September 14, 1864), brother of Henry Mellus, was a Los Angeles County Supervisor and a successful California business man. Francis Mellus, born in Salem, Massachusetts, was a younger brother of Henry Mellu ...

in 1872. In 1867, Alexander sold Rancho Providencia to

David Burbank David Burbank (December 17, 1821 – January 21, 1895) was an American dentist and real estate investor. He became a founder and the namesake of Burbank, California. Early life Burbank was born on December 17, 1821, in Effingham, New Hampshire ...

, a dentist and entrepreneur from Los Angeles. Burbank had also acquired

Rancho Cahuenga Rancho Cahuenga was a Mexican land grant in the San Fernando Valley, in present-day Los Angeles County, California given in 1843 by governor Manuel Micheltorena to José Miguel Triunfo. Rancho Cahuenga is now a part of the city of Burbank, w ...

, a inholding within the boundaries of Rancho Providencia.Both grant boundaries are marked on

United States Geological Survey The United States Geological Survey (USGS), formerly simply known as the Geological Survey, is a scientific agency of the United States government. The scientists of the USGS study the landscape of the United States, its natural resources, ...

topographical maps, in the Burbank quadrangle Burbank also purchased of

Rancho San Rafael Rancho San Rafael was a Spanish land grant in the San Rafael Hills, bordering the Los Angeles River and the Arroyo Seco in present-day Los Angeles County, southern California, given in 1784 to Jose Maria Verdugo. Geography The rancho includes t ...

from Jonathan R. Scott in 1867. Burbank combined his properties into a nearly cattle ranch. Burbank sold his holdings in 1886 to Los Angeles land speculators who formed the "Providencia Land, Water & Development Company", with Burbank as one of the directors. The land was surveyed and a business district was laid out, surrounded by residential lots. The outlying area was divided into small farms. They named the town Burbank and opened the tract for sale on May 1, 1887. The City of Burbank was incorporated in 1911.History of Burbank
/ref>

References

External links

Map of old Spanish and Mexican ranchos in Los Angeles County
{{California history Providencia Providencia History of the San Fernando Valley History of Los Angeles Providencia Burbank, California Toluca Lake, Los Angeles

History

See also

References

External links