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Welcome to San Benito
County CAGenWeb
Bautista - Marentis House - 1874
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available for adoption.
Contact the State Coordinator.
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San
Benito County Data
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Brief
History:
Before the arrival of
the first European settlers, the San
Benito county area was inhabited by the
Mutsun sub-group of the
Ohlone Native Americans. In 1772
Father Juan Crespí conducted an brief
expedition into the area and named a small
river
which he found in honor of San
Benito de Nursia (Saint Benedict), the
patron saint of monasticism. The county
was later
named after the San Benito Valley,
the valley surrounding this river. Thus it
was from the Spanish version of the
saint's name
that the county eventually took its
name.
In 1797 Spanish missionaries founded
the first European settlement in the
county as the San Juan Bautista mission.
In 1848
the United States government gained
control over what would soon become the
state of California, which included the
area
now known as San Benito county. The
town of New Idria was the next town to
develop in the area, and was founded ca.
1857. New Idria was centered around
the New Idria Mercury Mine. When the mine
played out fairly recently in 1972, New
Idria was abandoned, and the town is
now one of California's many ghost-towns.
The town of Hollister was next
founded on November 19, 1868, by William
Welles Hollister on the grounds of the
former
Mexican land-grant Rancho San Justo.
In 1874 the California legislature formed
San Benito county from a section of
Monterey County, while naming
Hollister as the new county seat. Sections
of Merced and Fresno Counties were also
later
reassigned to San Benito county in
1887 as a result of the growth of the New
Idria community. Other towns in the county
which were founded early in the
county's history include Tres Pinos and
Paicines.
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The
CAGenWeb Project sincerely thanks the
dedicated volunteers who devoted time
and effort toward making
this site a successful one:
George H.
Golden Jr., County Coordinator
1996-1998
Susan Cherry-Boyer, County
Coordinator 1998-2017
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