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History of Our Community
Some 200 years earlier, in the 1760's, when the first European explorers set foot on Southern California soil,
a Spanish soldier named Juan Jose Dominguez was part of that fabled Portola expedition.
A few years later, when Franciscan missionaries began their journey on foot to establish the chain of California Missions,
Juan Dominguez accompanied Father Junipero Serra as part of the small band of military men who helped to protect the padres.
When Senor Dominguez retired in 1782, after thirty years of service, he was rewarded by a gift from the Spanish governor of California:
the very first land grant in the history of California - a vast expanse of 75,000 acres of land, which he named Rancho San Pedro.
It stretched from the Los Angeles river all the way west to the Pacific Ocean, encompassing what today would be the cities of Carson,
Torrance, Redondo Beach,
Lomita, Wilmington, and parts of San Pedro.
Forty-two years later, in 1826, his nephew, Manuel Dominguez, built this adobe home for his new bride.
The vast Rancho spread out across most of what is now the South Bay region, from the Los Angeles River on the east, to the Pacific Ocean on the west.
It encompassed what is now Compton, Gardena, Carson, Redondo Beach,
Torrance, Palos Verdes Estates, Lomita,
Rolling Hills, Rancho Palos Verdes,
San Pedro, Wilmington, Harbor City, and a part of Long Beach.
At the ranch's center, perched atop Dominguez Hills, was the home of the Dominguez family.
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