Rancho Punta del Año Nuevo was a 17753 acres (71.8 km²) Mexican land grant

Ranchos of California

The Spanish, and later the Méxican government encouraged settlement of territory now known as California by the establishment of large land grants called ranchos, from which the English ranch is derived. Devoted to raising cattle and sheep, the owners of the ranchos attempted to pattern themselves...

 in present day San Mateo County, California given in 1842 by Governor Juan B. Alvarado to Simeon Castro. At the time, the grant was in Santa Cruz County

Santa Cruz County, California

Santa Cruz County is a county located on the Pacific coast of the U.S. state of California, on the California Central Coast. The county forms the northern coast of the Monterey Bay. . As of the 2010 U.S. Census, its population was 262,382. The county seat is Santa Cruz...

; an 1868 boundary adjustment gave the land to San Mateo County. The grant extended along the Pacific coast from Rancho Butano

Rancho Butano

Rancho Butano was a Mexican land grant in present day San Mateo County, California given in 1838 by Governor Juan Alvarado and confirmed in 1844 by Governor Manuel Micheltorena to Ramona Sanchez. At the time, the grant was in Santa Cruz County; an 1868 boundary adjustment gave the land to San...

 and Arroyo de los Frijoles on the north, past Pigeon Point, Franklin Point to Point Año Nuevo on the south.

History

José Simeon Nepomuncena Castro (1783–1842), the son of Marcario Castro, was born in Santa Barbara

Santa Barbara, California

Santa Barbara is the county seat of Santa Barbara County, California, United States. Situated on an east-west trending section of coastline, the longest such section on the West Coast of the United States, the city lies between the steeply-rising Santa Ynez Mountains and the Pacific Ocean...

. Simeon Castro was a soldier at Monterey

Monterey, California

The City of Monterey in Monterey County is located on Monterey Bay along the Pacific coast in Central California. Monterey lies at an elevation of 26 feet above sea level. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 27,810. Monterey is of historical importance because it was the capital of...

 in 1809, and alcalde

Alcalde

Alcalde , or Alcalde ordinario, is the traditional Spanish municipal magistrate, who had both judicial and administrative functions. An alcalde was, in the absence of a corregidor, the presiding officer of the Castilian cabildo and judge of first instance of a town...

 at Monterey in 1838–39. He married Maria Antonia Pico (1804–1883). He was granted Rancho Bolsa Nueva y Moro Cojo

Rancho Bolsa Nueva y Moro Cojo

Rancho Bolsa Nueva y Moro Cojo was a Mexican land grant in present day Monterey County, California given in 1844 by Governor Manuel Micheltorena to María Antonia Pico de Castro. Literally translated, the name means "new pocket and lame moor". The name "pocket" refers to pockets of land...

 in 1837, and the four square league Rancho Punta del Año Nuevo in 1842. Simeon Castro died in 1842.

With the cession

Mexican Cession

The Mexican Cession of 1848 is a historical name in the United States for the region of the present day southwestern United States that Mexico ceded to the U.S...

 of California to the United States following the Mexican-American War, the 1848 Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo

Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo

The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo is the peace treaty, largely dictated by the United States to the interim government of a militarily occupied Mexico City, that ended the Mexican-American War on February 2, 1848...

 provided that the land grants would be honored. As required by the Land Act of 1851, a claim for Rancho Punta del Año Nuevo was filed with the Public Land Commission

Public Land Commission

The Public Land Commission, a former agency of the United States government, was created following the admission of California as a state in 1850 . The Commission's purpose was to determine the validity of prior Spanish and Mexican land grants in California.California Senator William M...

 in 1852, and the grant was patented

Land patent

A land patent is a land grant made patent by the sovereign lord over the land in question. To make a such a grant “patent”, such a sovereign lord must document the land grant, securely sign and seal the document and openly publish the same to the public for all to see...

 to Maria Antonia Pico de Castro and heirs of Simeon Castro in 1857.

In 1851 Maria Antonio Pico de Castro sold Rancho Punta del Año Nuevo to Isaac Graham

Isaac Graham

Isaac Graham was a fur trader and mountain man. In 1830, he joined a hunting and trapping party at Fort Smith, Arkansas that included George Nidever. Graham attended the rendezvous of 1832 and took part in the battle of Pierre's Hole. From there, Graham joined Joseph R. Walker's party headed for...

. In 1862 Clark & Coburn of San Francisco purchased the adjacent Rancho Butano and Rancho Punta del Año Nuevo grants. Loren Coburn, born in Vermont

Vermont

Vermont is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. The state ranks 43rd in land area, , and 45th in total area. Its population according to the 2010 census, 630,337, is the second smallest in the country, larger only than Wyoming. It is the only New England...

, came to California in 1851, and worked first in mining. Coburn bought out his brother-in-law Jeremiah Clark. Coburn was an extremely aggressive land owner, contesting boundaries, and a perpetual litigant in the courts and was widely disliked. Coburn leased much of the land to a dairy enterprise run by the Steele family (Rensselaer, Isaac and Edgar) from Delaware

Delaware

Delaware is a U.S. state located on the Atlantic Coast in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It is bordered to the south and west by Maryland, and to the north by Pennsylvania...

. In 1869 Steele family bought 7000 acres (28 km²) south of Gazos Creek. Coburn and Clark’s legacy of defending their land slowed the subdivision and development of Rancho Punta del Año Nuevo.