View source for Rancho Agua Caliente (Alameda County)

{{Short description|Mexican land grant in California}}
{{not to be confused|Rancho Agua Caliente (Sonoma County)}}
[[File:Antonio_Suñol.jpg|thumb|right|Don [[Antonio Suñol]] was granted Rancho Agua Caliente in 1836. He sold it to Fulgencio Higuera in 1839]]
'''Rancho Agua Caliente''' was a {{convert|9564|acre|km2|sing=on}} [[Ranchos of California|Mexican land grant]] in present-day [[Alameda County, California]] granted in 1836 by Governor [[Nicolás Gutiérrez]] to [[Antonio Suñol]] and confirmed in 1839 by Governor [[Juan Bautista Alvarado|Juan Alvarado]] to Fulgencio Higuera.<ref>Ogden Hoffman, 1862, ''Reports of Land Cases Determined in the United States District Court for the Northern District of California'', Numa Hubert, San Francisco</ref> The name means "warm water" and refers to the warm springs located in the foothills a short distance south of [[Mission San José (California)|Mission San José]]. The grant is just south of present-day [[Fremont, California|Fremont]].<ref>[http://content.cdlib.org/ark:/13030/hb987008hv/?&brand=oac Diseño del Rancho Agua Caliente]</ref><ref>{{gnis| id = 233399|name = Rancho Agua Caliente}}</ref>
==History==
[[File:Historic American Buildings Survey Willis Foster, Photographer Northern California Writers Project Original- February 1940 Re-photo- August 1940 General View - Fulgencio Higuera HABS CAL,1-WARM,2-1.tif|thumb|left|Fulgencio Higuera Adobe, Rancho Agua Caliente. 1940 [[Historic American Buildings Survey]].]]
[[File:Historic American Buildings Survey Willis Foster, Photographer Northern California Writers' Project Original- February 1940 Re-photo- August 1940 (View -2) - Abelardo Higuera Adobe HABS CAL,1-WARM,3-2.tif|thumb|left|Abelardo Higuera Adobe, Rancho Agua Caliente.]]
Fulgencio Higuera (1799–1878), was the son of Jose Loreto Higuera (1778–1845), grantee of [[Rancho Los Tularcitos]], and grandson of Ygnacio Anastacio Higuera, who came to California with the [[De Anza Expedition]].  His brother Valentin Higuera was the grantee of [[Rancho Pescadero (Grimes)|Rancho Pescadero]].  In 1820, Fulgencio Higuera married Maria Clara Saturnina Pacheco.  In 1836 Fulgencio Higuera was granted the two square league Rancho Agua Caliente, formerly Mission San José land.<ref>{{cite book |last=Hoover |first=Mildred B. |last2=Rensch |first2=Hero |last3=Rensch |first3=Ethel |last4=Abeloe |first4=William N. |title=Historic Spots in California |year=1966 |publisher=Stanford University Press | url=https://archive.org/details/historicspotsinc00rens|url-access=registration |isbn=978-0-8047-4482-9}}</ref> In 1845, Higuera married Maria Celia Feliz.
With the [[Mexican Cession|cession]] of California to the United States following 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 for Rancho Agua Caliente was filed with the [[Public Land Commission]] in 1852,<ref>[http://digicoll.lib.berkeley.edu/record/265493 United States. District Court (California : Northern District) Land Case 133 ND]</ref><ref>[http://oac.cdlib.org/findaid/ark:/13030/hb109nb422/ Finding Aid to the Documents Pertaining to the Adjudication of Private Land Claims in California, circa 1852-1892]</ref> and the grant was [[Land patent|patented]] to Fulgencio Higuera in 1858.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.slc.ca.gov/Info/Reports/Surveyors_General/Willey_1884_1886.pdf# |title=Report of the Surveyor General 1884–1886 |access-date=2017-03-24 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170218143209/http://slc.ca.gov/Info/Reports/Surveyors_General/Willey_1884_1886.pdf# |archive-date=2017-02-18 |url-status=dead }}</ref>
Higuera gradually sold off his holdings in the 1850s. An attorney, Abram Harris, purchased the southern portion of this land in 1858 and established what briefly became known as Harrisburg.  In 1850, Clement Columbet bought {{convert|640|acre|km2|1}}, and developed a resort and one of the state’s first wineries.  However, the resort did not survive the [[1868 Hayward earthquake]].  [[Leland Stanford]] bought the property in 1869 and founded [[Leland Stanford Winery]] at the corner of Stanford Ave and Vinyard Ave, in what is now Fremont.<ref name=chl>{{cite web|title=Alameda County|url=http://ohp.parks.ca.gov/default.asp?page_id=21388|work=California Historical Landmarks|publisher=State of California Office of Historic Preservation|access-date=6 May 2011}}</ref> Thomas W. Millard, who had come from New York to California in 1853, bought a large portion of the Rancho in 1855.<ref>''Millard vs Hathaway'',Reports of cases determined in the Supreme Court of the state of California, Volume 27, pp. 119–148, Bancroft-Whitney Company</ref>
==Historic sites of the Rancho==
*Galindo Higuera Adobe.
*[[Leland Stanford Winery]]. This winery was founded in 1869 by Leland Stanford, and operated by his brother Josiah Stanford. The restored buildings and winery are now occupied and operated by Weibel Champagne Vineyards.<ref name=chl />
==References==
{{Reflist}}
{{coord |37.510|-121.910|region:US-CA_type:landmark|display=title}}
{{California history|state=collapsed}}
[[Category:Ranchos of California|Agua Caliente (Higuera)]]
[[Category:Ranchos of Alameda County, California|Agua Caliente]]
[[Category:History of Fremont, California]]
[[Category:1836 establishments in Alta California|Agua Caliente]]