Santa Rita was an unincorporated community

Unincorporated area

In law, an unincorporated area is a region of land that is not a part of any municipality.To "incorporate" in this context means to form a municipal corporation, a city, town, or village with its own government. An unincorporated community is usually not subject to or taxed by a municipal government...

 in Monterey County

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...

, 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...

. It was located 3.5 miles (5.6 km) north of Salinas

Salinas, California

Salinas is the county seat and the largest municipality of Monterey County, California. Salinas is located east-southeast of the mouth of the Salinas River, at an elevation of about 52 feet above sea level. The population was 150,441 at the 2010 census...

, at an elevation of 79 feet (24 m).

Jose Manuel Soto bought the Santa Rita land grant

Rancho Los Gatos or Santa Rita

Rancho Los Gatos or Santa Rita was a Mexican land grant in present day Monterey County, California given in 1837 by Governor Juan B. Alvarado to José Trinidad Espinoza...

 and allocated 1 square miles (2.6 km²) for a town he named New Republic. The New Republic post office opened in 1870 and changed its name to Santa Rita in 1874, and closed for good in 1907. The town was also called Pinecate from nearby Pinecate Peak, and Sotoville in honor of Soto.

Santa Rita was annexed by Salinas in 1975.