Rancho San Miguel (Noé) facts for kids
Rancho San Miguel was a very large piece of land, about 4,443 acres (or 18 square kilometers), given as a Mexican land grant in 1845. It was located in what is now San Francisco County, California. Governor Pío Pico gave this land to José de Jesús Noé. The rancho covered a huge area, including places we now know as Eureka Valley, and stretching almost to Daly City. It also included today's San Francisco neighborhoods like Noe Valley, the Castro, Glen Park, Diamond Heights, and St. Francis Wood.
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History of Rancho San Miguel
José de Jesús Noé: The Original Owner
José de Jesús Noé (1805-1862) was born in Puebla, Mexico. He moved to California in 1834 with his wife, Guadalupe Garduno. During the time California was under Mexican rule, he held important jobs in San Francisco. He was an alcalde (which was like a mayor) in 1842 and again in 1846. He received the Rancho San Miguel land grant, which was about one square league, in 1845.
Land Changes After the War
After the Mexican-American War, California became part of the United States. This change was agreed upon in the 1848 Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo. This treaty said that the United States would respect the land grants given by Mexico. To make this official, a new law called the Land Act of 1851 was passed. This law required people to prove they owned their land. José de Jesús Noé filed a claim for Rancho San Miguel in 1852. He received the official document, called a patent, for his land in 1857.
Selling Off the Rancho
After his wife passed away in 1848, José de Jesús Noé began selling parts of Rancho San Miguel. He had three sons. In 1854, he sold a large section of the land to two brothers, John Meirs Horner and William J. Horner. By the time Noé received his official land patent in 1857, he had already sold much of the rancho. He died in 1862, and whatever land was left of the rancho went to his children.
By 1862, a wealthy French businessman named François Louis Alfred Pioche owned most of the rancho. However, he lost the land in 1878 due to a foreclosure sale. Later, in 1880, Adolph Sutro, who would become a Mayor of San Francisco, bought the northwestern part of the rancho.
Family Tries to Reclaim Land
In 1895, Noé's children argued that their father's sale to the Horner brothers was not legal. They went to court, trying to get back half of the rancho land, which they believed belonged to their mother's share. However, they were not successful in their lawsuit.
