Ysidro Reyes facts for kids
Ysidro Reyes (born 1813 – died 1863) was a businessman who lived in Los Angeles. He was the son of Juan Francisco Reyes, who was the first alcalde (or mayor) of the town of Los Angeles.
Ysidro Reyes's Life Story
Ysidro Reyes became the owner of half of a large area of land called the Rancho Boca de Santa Monica. This land was given out by the Mexican government. He shared this land with Francisco Marquez. This area included parts of what we now call Santa Monica Canyon, Pacific Palisades, and Topanga Canyon.
Ysidro's father, Juan Francisco Reyes, came to Los Angeles from Mexico around 1781. He was a soldier and a businessman. He received and sold other large land grants from the Spanish government. These included areas like Rancho Los Encinos and Lompoc.
Ysidro Reyes lived on his part of the Rancho Boca de Santa Monica. This was in the Santa Monica Canyon. He worked on a big piece of land with his father. This land stretched all the way to what is now Hollywood. Ysidro also had a business. He sold tar from the La Brea Tar Pits. People in Los Angeles used this tar to make their roofs waterproof.
The First Home in Santa Monica Canyon
The Ysidro Reyes Adobe was the very first adobe home built in Santa Monica Canyon. An adobe home is made from sun-dried mud bricks. It was built in 1838. This house was located on land that is now called Pampas Ricas Boulevard in Pacific Palisades, Los Angeles.
You can find drawings of this adobe house at the UCLA Library. Today, there is a special memorial plaque. It is on a large rock on Pampas Ricas Boulevard. This plaque was placed there in the 1950s to remember the historic adobe house.
Ysidro Reyes's Death
Ysidro Reyes passed away in 1863. He left his part of the Rancho Boca de Santa Monica to his wife, Maria Antonia Villa. In 1875, Maria Antonia Villa sold the land. She sold it to a man named Robert Symington Baker. He was a developer and built railroads. Baker used his part of the Rancho Boca de Santa Monica to create the City of Santa Monica.
