Rancho El Rincon facts for kids
Rancho El Rincón was a very large piece of land in California. It was about 4,431-acre (17.93 km2), which is like 1,793 football fields! This land was given as a Mexican land grant in 1839 to Juan Bandini by Governor Juan Alvarado. The name "El Rincón" means "the corner" in Spanish. Today, this area is part of San Bernardino County and Riverside County, California. It's located south of a town called Chino. The rancho lands were bordered by Rancho Jurupa to the east and the Santa Ana River to the south. A popular spot today, Prado Regional Park, is also on what used to be this rancho land.
Contents
A Look at Rancho El Rincón
The Story of the Rancho
In 1839, a man named Juan Bandini received the Rancho El Rincón land grant from Governor Alvarado. This grant was for about one square league of land. Later, Juan Bandini sold this large rancho to Bernardo Yorba. Bernardo Yorba already owned other big land grants nearby, like Rancho Cañón de Santa Ana.
After the Mexican-American War ended in 1848, California became part of the United States. The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo in 1848 said that the new U.S. government would respect the land grants given by Mexico. Because of a new law called the Land Act of 1851, Bernardo Yorba had to file a claim for Rancho El Rincón in 1853. His ownership of the land was officially confirmed in 1879.
From Rincón to Prado
A small village called Rincón grew near the Santa Ana River. This was close to where the river cut through the Chino Hills. The village had a post office for some years. In 1907, the Santa Fe Railway asked for the town's name to be changed. They already had other stops named Rincón. So, the village and its post office were renamed Prado, which means "meadow" in Spanish.
The Prado post office operated until 1935. In 1938, a big flood destroyed much of the town and local farms. Because of this, the village of Prado was removed when the Prado Dam was built in 1941.
Important Places from the Rancho
One important historic site from the rancho is the Yorba-Slaughter Adobe. Bernardo Yorba's son, Raymundo, built the first house there in 1851. That house burned down, but a new one was built in 1852-1853.
Later, in 1868, a man named Fenton M. Slaughter bought the property. He was an American who had fought in the Mexican-American War. He was also a blacksmith and worked with sheep and cattle in the Los Angeles area. The Yorba-Slaughter Adobe is now listed on the National Register of Historic Places listings in San Bernardino County, California. It is also a San Bernardino County Landmark.
