Rancho Punta de Pinos was a 2667 acres (10.8 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 Monterey County, California

Monterey County, California

Monterey County is a county located on the Pacific coast of the U.S. state of California, its northwestern section forming the southern half of Monterey Bay. The northern half of the bay is in Santa Cruz County. As of 2010, the population was 415,057. The county seat and largest city is Salinas...

 given in 1833 by Governor José Figueroa

José Figueroa

General José Figueroa , was a General and the Mexican territorial Governor of Alta California from 1833 to 1835.Figueroa oversaw the initial secularization of the missions of upper California, which included the expulsion of the Spanish Franciscan mission officials.This also involved the issuing of...

 to José María Armenta, and regranted to José Abrego in 1844 by Governor Manuel Micheltorena

Manuel Micheltorena

Manuel Micheltorena was a Brigadier General of the Mexican Army, Adjutant-General of the same, Governor, Commandant-General and Inspector of the Department of the California...

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

Pacific Ocean

The Pacific Ocean is the largest of the Earth's oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic in the north to the Southern Ocean in the south, bounded by Asia and Australia in the west, and the Americas in the east.At 165.2 million square kilometres in area, this largest division of the World...

 from Point Pinos near Pacific Grove

Pacific Grove, California

Pacific Grove is a coastal city in Monterey County, California, USA, with a population of 15,041 as of the 2010 census, down from 15,522 as of the 2000 census...

 south to Rancho Pescadero

Rancho Pescadero (Barreto)

Rancho Pescadero was a Mexican land grant in present day Monterey County, California given in 1836 by Governor Nicolás Gutiérrezto Fabián Barreto. Pescadero means fishing place in Spanish...

.

History

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

Manuel Micheltorena

Manuel Micheltorena was a Brigadier General of the Mexican Army, Adjutant-General of the same, Governor, Commandant-General and Inspector of the Department of the California...

. 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. José Abrego was administrator of Mission San Antonio

Mission San Antonio de Padua

Mission San Antonio de Padua was founded on July 14, 1771, the third mission founded in Alta California by Father Presidente Junípero Serra, and site of the first Christian marriage and first use of fired-tile roofing in Upper California.-History:...

 in 1833 and 1834, customs officer, member of the Assembly. In 1841 Maria Josefa Abrego bought Rancho San Jose y Sur Chiquito

Rancho San Jose y Sur Chiquito

Rancho San Jose y Sur Chiquito was a Mexican land grant in present day Monterey County, California given in 1839 by Governor Juan Alvarado to Marcelino Escobar...

. José Abrego bought Rancho San Francisquito

Rancho San Francisquito (Munras)

Rancho San Francisquito was a Mexican land grant in present day Monterey County, California given in 1835 by Governor José Castro to Catalina Manzaneli de Munras...

 in 1853.

José Abrego sold Rancho Punta de Pinos to Thomas O Larkin and three other associates (Jacob P. Leese

Jacob P. Leese

Jacob Primer Leese was a San Francisco pioneer, who built the first permanent house in San Francisco...

, Milton Little, and James H. Gleason) in 1850. By the time of the patent, county sheriff

Office of the Sheriff, Monterey County

The Monterey County Sheriff's Department is the county law enforcement agency for Monterey County, California. It provides protection and law enforcement to the non-municipal areas of Monterey County....

 Henry DeGraw had acquired the share of Leese; and Charles Brown had acquired the share of Gleason.

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 de Pinos was filed by Leese, Little, and Gleason 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 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.

Historic sites of the Rancho

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