Rancho San Lorenzo Alta and Rancho San Lorenzo Baja

	Rancho San Lorenzo Alta

The places that we now call Hayward, Castro Valley, and San Lorenzo were once part of very big ranches owned by two families. These families were the Castros and the Sotos. They were all Mexicans. In the 1800s, California was part of Mexico.

Guillermo and Maria Louisa Peralta Castro owned a big ranch called Rancho San Lorenzo Alta. The Castros had seven children. Their names were Juan, Francisco, José Ramón, Conceptión, Encarnatión, Loreta, and Luis.

The Castro family home was along the road called El Camino Real. This road ran all through California, and was once a way to get from mission to mission. Then, the rancheros built their homes near the road and so it became a road to get from rancho to rancho. (Today we call this road Mission Boulevard.)

Francisco and Barbara Soto owned a rancho called Rancho San Lorenzo Baja. Sometimes they called it San Lorenzito, which means Little San Lorenzo. The Soto's ranch was much smaller than the Castro's. The two ranchos were next to each other.

Guillermo Castro

Barbara Soto was Guillermo Castro's sister. The two families were very close. They planned their celebrations at the same time. They also shared much of the ranch work.

Señora Soto took over running the ranch after her husband died. It was unusual for a woman to be in charge of a rancho.

Eventually, Barbara Soto and Guillermo Castro sold their land to new settlers coming to the area after the California Gold Rush.

What was life like on the ranchos?