Rancho Aguajito (Villagrana) was one of the smallest Mexican land grants, a triangular parcel bordering a creek known as Arana Gulch, measuring 44.32-acre (0.1794 km) in area. The eastern boundary of the parcel is the creek, which is part of the eastern border of present-day Santa Cruz, California. The grant was given in 1837 by Governor Juan B. Alvarado to Miguel Villagrana.
History
Miguel Villagrana was a resident of the Villa de Branciforte pueblo in 1837, and presumably was already occupying Rancho Aguajito when Governor Alvarado approved the land grant. After California became a U.S. state in 1850, a claim for Rancho Aguajito was filed with the Public Land Commission in 1852, and the grant was sent for a patent in 1882. Because there was another land grant with the same name (in Monterey County), the two cases were at first mistakenly lumped together under number 282. To distinguish between the two, "(Villagrana)" is added to this article title.
The borders of the Aguajito (Villagrana) grant can still be seen in the Santa Cruz County GIS system mapping. Most of the former land grant is part of the campus of Harbor High School (California).
References
- Ogden Hoffman, 1862, Reports of Land Cases Determined in the United States District Court for the Northern District of California, Numa Hubert, San Francisco
- United States District Court (California : Southern District) Land Case 282 SD
- Report of the Surveyor General 1844 - 1886 Archived 2013-03-20 at the Wayback Machine
36°59′05″N 121°46′48″W / 36.984675°N 121.780°W / 36.984675; -121.780
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