Rancho La Brea was a Mexican land grant in present-day Los Angeles County, California, United States, given in 1828 to Antonio Jose Rocha and Nemisio Dominguez by José Antonio Carrillo, the alcalde of Los Angeles. Rancho La Brea consisted of one square league of land of what is now Wilshire's Miracle Mile, Hollywood, and parts of West Hollywood.Diseño del Rancho La Brea1900 USGS topographic map The grant included the famous La Brea Tar Pits.
History The title awarded by the alcalde in 1828 was confirmed by José María de Echeandía, governor of Alta California; in 1840, it was reconfirmed by Governor Juan Alvarado.Ogden Hoffman, 1862, Reports of Land Cases Determined in the United States District Court for the Northern District of California, Numa Hubert, San Francisco
With the cession of California to the United States after the Mexican–American War, the 1848 Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo provided that the land grants would be honored. As required by the Land Act of 1851, a claim was filed by Antonio José Rocha, José Jorge Rocha, and Josefa de la Merced de Jordan with the Public Land Commission in 1852, but it was rejected in 1860.United States. District Court (California : Southern District) Land Case 287 SDFinding Aid to the Documents Pertaining to the Adjudication of Private Land Claims in California, circa 1852-1892 As a lawyer and surveyor, Henry Hancock worked for the Rocha family to aid them with their efforts to prove their claim to Rancho La Brea. The Rochas finally won their claim (the grant was recorded as patented to "A. J. Rocha et al." in 1873). Report of the Surveyor General 1844 - 1886 Record of patent CACAAA 085077 The grant included the famous La Brea Tar Pits.
As happened to other rancheros, the claimants' legal expenses left them broke. In 1860, Antonio José Rocha's son, José Jorge Rocha, deeded Rancho La Brea to Henry Hancock.Seaman, Florence Josephine (1914) A Brief History of Rancho La Brea, Historical Society of Southern California, Vol IX, pp 253-256 Hancock paid $20,000 for the Mexican grants (at $2 or $3 per acre) with his profits from the sale of gold he had found in a rich placer mine. He engaged in the commercial development of the tar deposits on Rancho La Brea. He shipped considerable quantities to San Francisco by schooner. After Hancock's death in 1883, it was owned by his wife, Ida Hancock Ross. Most of Rancho La Brea was later subdivided and developed by his surviving son, Captain George Allan Hancock.Windsor Square – Hancock Park Historical Society He owned the Rancho La Brea Oil Company and donated of Hancock Park to Los Angeles County in 1924 to preserve and exhibit the fossils exhumed from Rancho La Brea. The La Brea Tar Pits within the Park are a now registered National Natural Landmark.
Arthur Gilmore bought some of the Rancho land in the 1890s and started a dairy farm. Drilling for water, he struck oil. This find was named the Salt Lake Oil Field after the company that drilled for him. Arthur's son, Earl Gilmore, built Gilmore Stadium next to Gilmore Field.
See also Ranchos of California List of Ranchos of California List of rancho land grants in Los Angeles County, California
References
External links Map of old Spanish and Mexican ranchos in Los Angeles County