Appendix A Historic Property Survey Report

Home Browse Search

Historical Resources Evaluation Report June 2019 Fairview Street Improvements and Bridge Replacement Project IV. HISTORICAL OVERVIEW The APE includes historic -period and modern residential and commercial properties, as well as segments of the Santa Ana River Channel and various local streets. Two 1956 duplexes (APE MR#s 1 and 2; 1007-1009 Marengo Place and 1003-1005 Marengo Place) in the APE were evaluated as part of this study. Because the evaluated resources date to the post - World War II period, limited information about the Spanish/Mission (1769-1821) and Mexican/Rancho (1821-1848) periods is provided. Instead, the historic context focuses on the settlement and development of Santa Ana and the APE during the American Period (1848 to present). SPANISH/MISSION PERIOD (1769-1821) Beginning with the Portola expedition of 1769-1770, Franciscan missions were established along coastal California between San Diego and Sonoma. Beginning in 1784, Spanish army officers and veterans living in California began receiving land concessions and establishing large, private grazing areas (Cowan 1993:8). During this period, the APE was part of the Rancho Los Nietos, which was a grant of approximately 300,000 acres made in 1784 by Governor Fages to Manuel Nieto (Beck and Haase 1974:Map 37; Shumway 1993:58). MEXICAN/RANCHO PERIOD (1821-1848) In 1821, Mexico gained independence from Spain and Mexico took control of California. During this period, there was a change from the subsistence agriculture of the Spanish/ Mission Period to livestock husbandry of the large ranches, or ranchos, acquired by Mexican citizens through grants or by purchase from mission administrators (Strudwick 2018:13). In 1833, Governor Figueroa granted the Rancho los Nietos to the heirs of Manuel Nieto, and in 1834, seven leagues were re -granted to Dona Catarina Ruiz, widow of Manuel Nieto, as Rancho las Bolsas by Governor Figueroa (Meadows 1966:115; Shumway 1993:58). The APE is approximately two miles southwest of the northeastern -most point of Rancho las Bolsas. AMERICAN PERIOD (1848—PRESENT) Following the end of hostilities between Mexico and the United States, the U. S. officially obtained California in the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo on February 2, 1848 (Cleland 1962:xiii). In the late 1850s and early 1860s, the cattle industry collapsed due to drought and sheep ranchers began to proliferate. The City of Santa Ana had its beginnings in the late 1860s when William H. Spurgeon from Kentucky bought 74.2 acres from Jacob Ross, Sr. and laid out the town of Santa Ana (Goddard and Goddard 1988). The town consisted of 24 blocks and the boundaries were First Street to the south, West Street (now Broadway) to the west, Seventh Street to the north, and Spurgeon Street to the east (Ibid.). The original townsite was approximately two miles east of the APE. 11