San Juan Bautista, California
Encyclopedia
San Juan Bautista is a city in San Benito County
San Benito County, California
San Benito County is a county located in the Coast Range Mountains of the U.S. state of California, south of San Jose. As of 2010 the population was 55,269. The county seat is Hollister, which includes nearly two-thirds of the county's population. El Camino Real passes through the county and...

, California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...

, United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

. The population was 1,862 at the 2010 census, up from 1,549 at the 2000 census. The city of San Juan Bautista was named after Mission San Juan Bautista
Mission San Juan Bautista
Mission San Juan Bautista was founded on June 24, 1797 in what is now the San Juan Bautista Historic District of San Juan Bautista, California. Barracks for the soldiers, a nunnery, the Jose Castro House, and other buildings were constructed around a large grassy plaza in front of the church and...

. San Juan is primarily an agricultural town.

The Juan Bautista de Anza
Juan Bautista de Anza
Juan Bautista de Anza Bezerra Nieto was a Novo-Spanish explorer and Governor of New Mexico for the Spanish Empire.-Early life:...

 House, the General José Castro house, and the San Juan Bautista Plaza
San Juan Bautista Plaza
San Juan Bautista Plaza Historic District, also known as San Juan Bautista State Historic Park is a historic district in San Juan Bautista, California that is a National Historic Landmark and a California state historic park. It includes the Mission San Juan Bautista, the Jose Castro House , and...

 Historic District are National Historic Landmark
National Historic Landmark
A National Historic Landmark is a building, site, structure, object, or district, that is officially recognized by the United States government for its historical significance...

s. El Teatro Campesino is based in San Juan Bautista.

Geography

San Juan Bautista is located at 36.844301°N 121.537232°W, adjacent to the San Andreas Fault
San Andreas Fault
The San Andreas Fault is a continental strike-slip fault that runs a length of roughly through California in the United States. The fault's motion is right-lateral strike-slip...

.

According to the United States Census Bureau
United States Census Bureau
The United States Census Bureau is the government agency that is responsible for the United States Census. It also gathers other national demographic and economic data...

, the city has a total area of 0.7 square miles (1.8 km²), 99.94% of it land and 0.06% of it water.

History

Prior to the arrival of Europeans, the area around San Juan Bautista was populated by the Mutsunes, a branch of the Ohlone
Ohlone
The Ohlone people, also known as the Costanoan, are a Native American people of the central California coast. When Spanish explorers and missionaries arrived in the late 18th century, the Ohlone inhabited the area along the coast from San Francisco Bay through Monterey Bay to the lower Salinas Valley...

 Indians. The Mutsunes lived in villages composed of thatched huts made of willow and grass, and as they lived the simple hunter-gatherer lifestyle common to California Indians, left little mark on the land. Today, the Mutsunes are extinct, with the last full-blooded native, Ascención Solórzano, dying in 1930.

In 1797, the Spanish
Spanish people
The Spanish are citizens of the Kingdom of Spain. Within Spain, there are also a number of vigorous nationalisms and regionalisms, reflecting the country's complex history....

 Franciscan
Franciscan
Most Franciscans are members of Roman Catholic religious orders founded by Saint Francis of Assisi. Besides Roman Catholic communities, there are also Old Catholic, Anglican, Lutheran, ecumenical and Non-denominational Franciscan communities....

 priest fray Fermín de Lasuén founded Mission San Juan Bautista
Mission San Juan Bautista
Mission San Juan Bautista was founded on June 24, 1797 in what is now the San Juan Bautista Historic District of San Juan Bautista, California. Barracks for the soldiers, a nunnery, the Jose Castro House, and other buildings were constructed around a large grassy plaza in front of the church and...

 to facilitate the conversion of the native people to Catholicism
Roman Catholic Church
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the world's largest Christian church, with over a billion members. Led by the Pope, it defines its mission as spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ, administering the sacraments and exercising charity...

; in the process, he claimed the land for the Spanish Empire
Spanish Empire
The Spanish Empire comprised territories and colonies administered directly by Spain in Europe, in America, Africa, Asia and Oceania. It originated during the Age of Exploration and was therefore one of the first global empires. At the time of Habsburgs, Spain reached the peak of its world power....

. Lasuén chose the site because of the area's fertile cropland, steady water supply, and sizable Indian population. At its height, the Mission had over 1200 neophytes living within its walls. The mission churchyard holds the remains of about 4500 Indians. Construction of the current mission church began in 1803, and has served the community continuously since 1812. The mission was located on the Camino Real
El Camino Real (California)
El Camino Real and sometimes associated with Calle Real usually refers to the 600-mile California Mission Trail, connecting the former Alta California's 21 missions , 4 presidios, and several pueblos, stretching from Mission San Diego de Alcalá in San Diego...

, a "royal highway" which connected the California missions
Spanish missions in California
The Spanish missions in California comprise a series of religious and military outposts established by Spanish Catholics of the Franciscan Order between 1769 and 1823 to spread the Christian faith among the local Native Americans. The missions represented the first major effort by Europeans to...

 and which remained well-used until the 19th century.

In 1821, Mexico revolted
Mexican War of Independence
The Mexican War of Independence was an armed conflict between the people of Mexico and the Spanish colonial authorities which started on 16 September 1810. The movement, which became known as the Mexican War of Independence, was led by Mexican-born Spaniards, Mestizos and Amerindians who sought...

 against Spain, winning independence for itself, and making California a province of the newly independent Mexico
Mexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...

. By 1834, a town known as San Juan de Castro has sprouted up around the mission. It drew its name from the town's prominent 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...

 José Tiburcio Castro. In 1834 the mission was secularized
Secularization
Secularization is the transformation of a society from close identification with religious values and institutions toward non-religious values and secular institutions...

, and Castro appointed executor of the property. Accordingly, he divided and auctioned off the former mission properties. His son, José Antonio Castro
José Antonio Castro
José Antonio Castro González is a Mexican football player who plays as a defender for Club Necaxa. He gained notoriety for his performances with Club America and at the 2006 FIFA World Cup for Mexico...

, build the Castro Adobe on the south side of the Plaza Mayor in 1840; however, Castro's frequent involvement in government kept him from spending much time there. Castro was a key member of the overthrow of governors Nicolás Gutiérrez
Nicolás Gutiérrez
Lieutenant Colonel Nicolás Gutiérrez was a twice acting governor of Alta California in 1836 from January to May and July to November.Gutierrez served two abbreviated terms in less than a year as acting governor of Alta California in 1836...

 in 1836 and 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...

 in 1844.

After defeating Micheltorena and his ill-equipped "Cholo
Cholo
Cholo is an ethnic slur created by Hispanic criollos in the 16th century, and it has been applied to individuals of mixed or pure American Indian ancestry, or other racially mixed origin. The precise usage of "cholo" has varied widely in different times and places...

" army, José Antonio Castro was appointed Comandante General of California, in charge of the Mexican Army
Mexican Army
The Mexican Army is the combined land and air branch and largest of the Mexican Military services; it also is known as the National Defense Army. It is famous for having been the first army to adopt and use an automatic rifle, , in 1899, and the first to issue automatic weapons as standard issue...

's operations in California. From San Juan Bautista, Castro ordered the army against potential foreign incursions; he soon became preoccupied with the threat posed by the uneducated foreign workers who were entering the country illegally, particularly from the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

, and who refused to adopt Mexican customs or learn Spanish
Spanish language
Spanish , also known as Castilian , is a Romance language in the Ibero-Romance group that evolved from several languages and dialects in central-northern Iberia around the 9th century and gradually spread with the expansion of the Kingdom of Castile into central and southern Iberia during the...

. He kept especially close watch over the movements of John C. Frémont
John C. Frémont
John Charles Frémont , was an American military officer, explorer, and the first candidate of the anti-slavery Republican Party for the office of President of the United States. During the 1840s, that era's penny press accorded Frémont the sobriquet The Pathfinder...

, an American military officer who had been let into California to conduct a survey of the interior. Though given explicit instructions to stay away from costal settlements, Frémont soon broke the agreement by taking his team to 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...

, a potential military target. When Castro told Frémont he would have to leave the country, the situation came close to war when he obstinately refused to leave and instead set up a base on Gavilán Peak, overlooking the town of San Juan. However, fighting was avoided and Frémont, grudgingly, withdrew.

Faced with continuous incursions against it by a foreign power, Castro's foreboding of an immigrant takeover was soon confirmed when the United States started the Mexican-American War in a bid to seize Mexico's northern holdings. Frémont returned to California, this time leading the invading US army. After using San Juan as a post for some time, Frémont went south, where he signed the Treaty of Cahuenga
Treaty of Cahuenga
The Treaty of Cahuenga, also called the "Capitulation of Cahuenga," ended the fighting of the Mexican-American War in Alta California in 1847. It was not a formal treaty between nations but an informal agreement between rival military forces in which the Californios gave up fighting...

 ending hostilities between the US and Mexico.

2010

The 2010 United States Census reported that San Juan Bautista had a population of 1,862. The population density
Population density
Population density is a measurement of population per unit area or unit volume. It is frequently applied to living organisms, and particularly to humans...

 was 2,616.4 people per square mile (1,010.2/km²). The racial makeup of San Juan Bautista was 1,125 (60.4%) White, 12 (0.6%) African American, 58 (3.1%) Native American, 52 (2.8%) Asian, 2 (0.1%) Pacific Islander, 494 (26.5%) from other races
Race (United States Census)
Race and ethnicity in the United States Census, as defined by the Federal Office of Management and Budget and the United States Census Bureau, are self-identification data items in which residents choose the race or races with which they most closely identify, and indicate whether or not they are...

, and 119 (6.4%) from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 907 persons (48.7%).

The mission had 1,248 Mutsun Native Americans.
The Census reported that 1,857 people (99.7% of the population) lived in households, 5 (0.3%) lived in non-institutionalized group quarters, and 0 (0%) were institutionalized.

There were 681 households, out of which 229 (33.6%) had children under the age of 18 living in them, 345 (50.7%) were opposite-sex married couples
Marriage
Marriage is a social union or legal contract between people that creates kinship. It is an institution in which interpersonal relationships, usually intimate and sexual, are acknowledged in a variety of ways, depending on the culture or subculture in which it is found...

 living together, 86 (12.6%) had a female householder with no husband present, 48 (7.0%) had a male householder with no wife present. There were 42 (6.2%) unmarried opposite-sex partnerships
POSSLQ
POSSLQ is an abbreviation for "Persons of Opposite Sex Sharing Living Quarters," a term coined in the late 1970s by the United States Census Bureau as part of an effort to more accurately gauge the prevalence of cohabitation in American households....

, and 8 (1.2%) same-sex married couples or partnerships. 157 households (23.1%) were made up of individuals and 48 (7.0%) had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.73. There were 479 families
Family (U.S. Census)
A family or family household is defined by the United States Census Bureau for statistical purposes as "a householder and one or more other people related to the householder by birth, marriage, or adoption. They do not include same-sex married couples even if the marriage was performed in a state...

 (70.3% of all households); the average family size was 3.21.

The population was spread out with 431 people (23.1%) under the age of 18, 178 people (9.6%) aged 18 to 24, 476 people (25.6%) aged 25 to 44, 556 people (29.9%) aged 45 to 64, and 221 people (11.9%) who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 38.7 years. For every 100 females there were 92.4 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 92.3 males.

There were 745 housing units at an average density of 1,046.9 per square mile (404.2/km²), of which 345 (50.7%) were owner-occupied, and 336 (49.3%) were occupied by renters. The homeowner vacancy rate was 3.6%; the rental vacancy rate was 5.1%. 898 people (48.2% of the population) lived in owner-occupied housing units and 959 people (51.5%) lived in rental housing units.

2000

As of the census
Census
A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring and recording information about the members of a given population. It is a regularly occurring and official count of a particular population. The term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common...

of 2000, there were 1,549 people, 567 households, and 388 families residing in the city. The population density
Population density
Population density is a measurement of population per unit area or unit volume. It is frequently applied to living organisms, and particularly to humans...

 was 2,187.0 people per square mile (842.4/km²). There were 615 housing units at an average density of 0.0 per square mile (334.4/km²). The racial makeup of the city in 2010 was 43.9% non-Hispanic White, 0.6% non-Hispanic African American, 1.6% Native American, 2.5% Asian, 0.1% Pacific Islander, 0.2% from other races
Race (United States Census)
Race and ethnicity in the United States Census, as defined by the Federal Office of Management and Budget and the United States Census Bureau, are self-identification data items in which residents choose the race or races with which they most closely identify, and indicate whether or not they are...

, and 2.5% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 48.7% of the population.

There were 567 households out of which 36.0% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 50.1% were married couples
Marriage
Marriage is a social union or legal contract between people that creates kinship. It is an institution in which interpersonal relationships, usually intimate and sexual, are acknowledged in a variety of ways, depending on the culture or subculture in which it is found...

 living together, 13.4% had a female householder with no husband present, and 31.4% were non-families. 23.6% of all households were made up of individuals and 9.0% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.73 and the average family size was 3.24.

In the city the population was spread out with 27.9% under the age of 18, 7.4% from 18 to 24, 29.6% from 25 to 44, 24.3% from 45 to 64, and 10.9% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 36 years. For every 100 females there were 98.1 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 99.5 males.They raised squash, melons, beans, corn, figs, grapes, pears,and olive trees.They also raised 115 cattle, 140 sheep, 4 pigs, and 6 horses.

The median income
Income
Income is the consumption and savings opportunity gained by an entity within a specified time frame, which is generally expressed in monetary terms. However, for households and individuals, "income is the sum of all the wages, salaries, profits, interests payments, rents and other forms of earnings...

 for a household in the city was $43,355, and the median income for a family was $47,656. Males had a median income of $40,089 versus $27,063 for females. The per capita income
Per capita income
Per capita income or income per person is a measure of mean income within an economic aggregate, such as a country or city. It is calculated by taking a measure of all sources of income in the aggregate and dividing it by the total population...

 for the city was $19,882. About 12.7% of families and 15.5% of the population were below the poverty line, including 23.2% of those under age 18 and 12.2% of those age 65 or over.
Archaeologist Phil Hines found some amazing artifacts.

Politics

In the state legislature
California State Legislature
The California State Legislature is the state legislature of the U.S. state of California. It is a bicameral body consisting of the lower house, the California State Assembly, with 80 members, and the upper house, the California State Senate, with 40 members...

 San Juan Bautista is located in the 12th Senate
California State Senate
The California State Senate is the upper house of the California State Legislature. There are 40 state senators. The state legislature meets in the California State Capitol in Sacramento. The Lieutenant Governor is the ex officio President of the Senate and may break a tied vote...

 District, represented by Republican
Republican Party (United States)
The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...

 Anthony Cannella
Anthony Cannella
Anthony Cannella is an American politician currently serving in the California State Senate. He is a Republican representing the 12th district, encompassing Merced and San Benito counties, as well as parts of Madera, Monterey, and Stanislaus counties...

, and in the 28th Assembly
California State Assembly
The California State Assembly is the lower house of the California State Legislature. There are 80 members in the Assembly, representing an approximately equal number of constituents, with each district having a population of at least 420,000...

 District, represented by Democrat
Democratic Party (United States)
The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...

 Anna M. Caballero
Anna M. Caballero
Anna Marie Caballero is Secretary of the California State and Consumer Services Agency. She was appointed by Governor Jerry Brown on March 22, 2011. She was a Democratic member of the California State Assembly who was elected to serve the 28th Assembly district in November 2006 and ran unopposed...

. Federally, San Juan Bautista is located in California's 17th congressional district
California's 17th congressional district
California's 17th congressional district is a congressional district in the U.S. state of California that covers all of Monterey and San Benito counties, as well as part of Santa Cruz County...

, which has a Cook PVI
Cook Partisan Voting Index
The Cook Partisan Voting Index , sometimes referred to as simply the Partisan Voting Index , is a measurement of how strongly an American congressional district or state leans toward one political party compared to the nation as a whole...

 of D +17 and is represented by Democrat Sam Farr
Sam Farr
Samuel S. "Sam" Farr is the U.S. Representative for , serving since 1993. He is a member of the Democratic Party. He was elected to Congress in a 1993 special election when longtime Democratic Rep...

.San Juan Bautista owns lots of land that is full of animals, plants, fruits, and vegetables.

Alfred Hitchcock's Vertigo

Scenes for the Alfred Hitchcock
Alfred Hitchcock
Sir Alfred Joseph Hitchcock, KBE was a British film director and producer. He pioneered many techniques in the suspense and psychological thriller genres. After a successful career in British cinema in both silent films and early talkies, Hitchcock moved to Hollywood...

 film Vertigo
Vertigo (film)
Vertigo is a 1958 psychological thriller film directed by Alfred Hitchcock and starring James Stewart, Kim Novak, and Barbara Bel Geddes. The screenplay was written by Alec Coppel and Samuel A...

were filmed around the historic plaza, including the historic mission, of San Juan Bautista in the fall of 1957.

2011 Cox Sleeper Earthquake

The 2011 Cox Sleeper Earthquake occurred at approximately 01:00 local time on January 12, 2011. The epicenter
Epicenter
The epicenter or epicentre is the point on the Earth's surface that is directly above the hypocenter or focus, the point where an earthquake or underground explosion originates...

 was in South San Juan Bautista at the coordinates 36.774, 121.504. The magnitude was measured at 4.5 with numerous aftershock
Aftershock
An aftershock is a smaller earthquake that occurs after a previous large earthquake, in the same area of the main shock. If an aftershock is larger than the main shock, the aftershock is redesignated as the main shock and the original main shock is redesignated as a foreshock...

s felt throughout the Monterey Peninsula
Monterey Peninsula
The Monterey Peninsula is located on the central California coast and comprises the cities of Monterey, Carmel, and Pacific Grove, and unincorporated areas of Monterey County including the resort and community of Pebble Beach.-Monterey:...

 and as far north as San Francisco.

Notable residents

  • Rowena Meeks Abdy
    Rowena Meeks Abdy
    Rowena Meeks Abdy was an American painter who flourished in Northern California in the early 20th century. Working in oil, watercolour and charcoal, she achieved prominence in the en plein air painting school and is held in several permanent collections of significant museums...

    , artist
  • George H. Moore
    George H. Moore
    George H. Moore , an attorney and a judge who was active in civic affairs of the Los Angeles Harbor region, was district attorney of San Benito County and a member of the Los Angeles City Council from 1943 to 1951.-Biography:...

    , Los Angeles City Council member, 1943–51, born in San Juan
  • Ed Walker
    Ed Walker (American veteran)
    Ed Walker was an American veteran of World War II, businessman, publisher and writer. Walker was the last surviving member of Castner's Cutthroats, a regiment consisting of just sixty-five men who performed reconnaissance missions in the Aleutian Islands during World War II...

    , last surviving member of Castner's Cutthroats
    Castner's Cutthroats
    Castner's Cutthroats was the unofficial name for the 1st Alaskan Combat Intelligence Platoon , also known as Alaskan Scouts. Castner's Cutthroats fought during World War II and were instrumental in defeating the Japanese during the Battle of the Aleutian Islands...

    .

External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
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