Rincon de Los Esteros

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Rancho Rincon de Los Esteros is a Mexican Land Grant located within the present Santa Clara County, California ^[1] According to U.S. District Court records, this grant was finally confirmed to Rafael Alvisa et al. in the year 1859 and surveyed under instructions from the U.S. Surveyor General by John Wallace. Alvisa was a descendant of Corporal Domingo Alviso, one of the original members of the Anza expedition. Alviso lived but a short time after reaching San Francisco and was buried March 11, 1777; the city of Alviso, California was named for him.^[2] The original land area of this grant was 2,308.17 acres and the original patentee was named White; the first patent was perfected in 1872.^[3]

The land was used for cattle grazing for a long period of time after the original grant. Numerous orchards existed on the land in the early 1900s, and, in addition, lettuce was grown here more recently in the 1970s.^[4] The 1960s, 1970s and 1980s also witnessed intensive urban land development leading to its position amid present day Silicon Valley. Alternatively the land grant is sometimes called Rancho Rincon de Los Esteros. In contemporary times the name Rincon de Los Esteros is also the name of a redevelopment project in the city of San Jose, California.