Rancho Aguaje de la Centinela
Encyclopedia
Rancho Aguaje de la Centinela was a 2219 acres (9 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 Los Angeles County, California
Los Angeles County, California
Los Angeles County is a county in the U.S. state of California. As of 2010 U.S. Census, the county had a population of 9,818,605, making it the most populous county in the United States. Los Angeles County alone is more populous than 42 individual U.S. states...

 given in 1837 to Ygnacio Machado. The name means "Sentinel of Waters" in Spanish, and probably refers to Centinela Springs. Rancho Aguaje de la Centinela included parts of present day Westchester
Westchester, Los Angeles, California
Westchester is a suburban neighborhood in western Los Angeles, California, United States. It is home to Los Angeles International Airport , Loyola Marymount University , and Otis College of Art and Design.-Geography:...

 and Inglewood
Inglewood, California
Inglewood is a city in southwestern Los Angeles County, California, southwest of downtown Los Angeles. It was incorporated on February 14, 1908. Its population stood at 109,673 as of the 2010 Census...

.

History

Rancho Ajuaje de la Centinela, was once part of the Rancho Sausal Redondo
Rancho Sausal Redondo
Rancho Sausal Redondo was a Mexican land grant in present day Los Angeles County, California given in 1837 to Antonio Ygnacio Avila by Juan Alvarado Governor of Alta California. The Spanish words, Rancho Sausal Redondo, mean a large circular ranch of pasture with a grove of willows on it...

, and Ygnacio Machado had encroached on the land claimed by Antonio Avila, and was awarded provisional title to this land at the same time that Antonio Avila received his land grant for the balance of the Rancho Sausal Redondo in 1837. In 1845, Machado traded the rancho to Bruno Avila, brother of Antonio Avila, for a small tract in the Pueblo of Los Angeles.

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 Aguaje de la Centinela 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 Bruno Avila in 1872.

Bruno Avila, unable to repay his debts, lost his property through foreclosure in 1857. Subsequent to this, the Rancho Ajuaje de la Centinela changed hands a number of times. Robert Burnett
Burnetts of Leys
Clan Burnett is a Lowland Scottish clan from Deeside, near Banchory in Northeast Scotland. From the early 14th century to the mid 16th century the family occupied a lake dwelling on the Loch of Leys, and resided here or on land near the lake for over 200 years...

 acquired the Rancho Ajuaje de la Centinela from Joseph Lancaster Brent in 1860. In 1868, Burnett added the Rancho Sausal Redondo, joining the two ranchos again. Burnett returned to Scotland
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...

, and leased the 25000 acres (101 km²) of the combined ranchos to Catherine Freeman (wife of Daniel Freeman) in 1873; with an agreement that she could eventually buy the ranchos outright. After Catherine's death in 1874, Daniel Freeman began the commercial development of the real estate. He became one of the directors of the Centinela Land Company, which started in 1874, with the purpose of developing commercially the Rancho Centinela. The venture failed, but Freeman was central in another undertaking, that of the Centinela-Inglewood Land Company in 1887 to develop what would be known as the town of Inglewood.

Historic sites of the Rancho

  • Centinela Springs. Bubbling springs once flowed here.
  • Centinela Adobe
    Centinela Adobe
    The Centinela Adobe, also known as La Casa de la Centinela, is an Spanish Colonial style adobe house built in 1834. It is operated as a house museum by the Historical Society of Centinela Valley, and is one of the 43 surviving adobes within Los Angeles County, California...

    is an adobe house constructed in 1834 by Ygnacio Machado.
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