Rancho La Brea was a 4,439-acre (17.96 km²) Mexican land grant in present day Los Angeles County, California given in 1828 to Antonio Jose Rocha and Nemisio Dominguez by José Antonio Carrillo, the Alcalde of Los Angeles. Rancho La Brea consisted of one square league of land of what is now Wilshire's Miracle Mile, Hollywood, and parts of West Hollywood.^[1][2][3] The grant included the tar pits.^[4]

[edit] History

The title was confirmed by José María de Echeandía, who was the Governor of Alta California at the time. Later in 1840, the grant was reconfirmed by Governor Juan Alvarado. The rancheros who received their land grants during the Mexican and Spanish occupation of California were required to prove their claims to the new U.S. government. A claim was filed by Antonio José Rocha, José Jorge Rocha, and Josefa de la Merced de Jordan with the Public Land Commission in 1852, but was rejected in 1860.^[5]

As a lawyer, Henry Hancock worked for the Rocha family to aid them with their efforts to prove their claim to Rancho La Brea. The Rochas finally won their claim and the grant was patented to Antonio José Rocha in 1873.^[6], but like so many other rancheros, their legal expenses left them broke. In 1860 Jose Jorge Rocha, the son of Antonio Jose Rocha, deeded Rancho La Brea to Henry Hancock.^[7][8]

Hancock engaged in the commercial development of the tar deposits on Rancho La Brea. He shipped considerable quantities to San Francisco by schooner. Most of Rancho La Brea was later subdivided and developed by his surviving son, Captain G. Allan Hancock.^[9]

[edit] References

Coordinates: 34°04′12″N 118°18′00″W / 34.070°N 118.300°W / 34.070; -118.300

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