, a Mexican-era
rancho granted to
Francisco María Castro in 1823 and reconfirmed to his son Don
Víctor Castro, a noted
Californio ranchero and politician (pictured), in 1834. The city of San Pablo is on land once occupied by the Cuchiyun band of the
Ohlone indigenous people. This Ohlone territory was claimed for the king of
Spain in the late 18th century. and was granted for grazing purposes to the
Mission Dolores located in today's
San Francisco, but these church properties were secularized (or made separate from the Catholic church) when Mexico became independent from Spain in 1821. In 1823, Mexican governor
Luís Antonio Argüello granted the Ohlone territory to
Francisco María Castro, an ex-soldier stationed at the
San Francisco Presidio. The grant was given the name
Rancho San Pablo. This is the origin of the city's name, as well as the name of one the East Bay's oldest principal roads:
San Pablo Avenue (formerly known, during the Spanish colonial era, as
El Camino Real de la Contra Costa, which means "The Royal Way of the Opposite Coast," referring to the coastal/bayshore region opposite San Francisco). San Pablo Avenue, originating in San Pablo, runs through the entire East Bay. San Pablo's
Alvarado Adobe has been designated a California State Landmark (No.512), as a historic reproduction of the city's Mexican era. The home was originally constructed in 1842 by Jesús Maria Castro, one of Francisco Castro's sons, for his mother,
Gabriéla Berryessa de Castro. Upon Gabriéla's death in 1851, it was inherited by her daughter, Martina Castro de Alvarado, wife of
Juan Bautista Alvarado, who was Governor of California from 1836 to 1842. The Alvarado Adobe was demolished in the mid-20th century to make way for a motel. A reproduction was built later in the century, and is now located in San Pablo Civic Center, on the northwest corner of San Pablo Avenue and Church Lane. A single beam from the original structure is incorporated into the roof of the replacement structure, at the rear of the adobe facing the interior courtyard. The first post office was established in 1854. The city
incorporated in 1948. Since the middle of the 20th century,
College Center at El Portal has been the backbone of the community's retail economy. ==Geography==