Rancho Valle de San Jose (Bernal)
Rancho Valle de San José (also called "Valle de San José y Corralitos") was a 48,436-acre (196.01 km2) Mexican land grant in present-day Alameda County, California.
It was given in 1839 by Governor Juan Alvarado to Antonio Maria Pico, Agustín Bernal (1797–1872), Juan Pablo Bernal (1810–1878), and María Dolores Bernal de Suñol. The grant encompassed present-day Sunol and Pleasanton.
The eleven square league grant was given to four children of José Joaquín Bernal (1762–1837) and Maria Josefa Daria Sanchez (1760–1858). José Joaquín Bernal, a member of the 1776 De Anza Expedition, was a soldier at the Presidio of San Francisco and the Pueblo of San José, and grantee of Rancho Santa Teresa.
Antonio Maria Pico (1809–1869), son of José Dolores Pico, was the grantee of Rancho Pescadero and married Maria del Pilar Bernal (1812–1882) in 1831. Pico sold his one fourth share of Rancho El Valle de San José to Juan Pablo Bernal.
The Bernals only moved to the rancho after the gold rush to protect their interests from squatters. Agustín Bernal moved to his portion of the Rancho and built an adobe in 1850.
María Dolores Bernal married Antonio Marie Suñol (1796–1865), born in Spain, a seaman on a French merchant ship and arrived in the Pueblo of San José in 1818. He held several public offices including Postmaster (1826–1829), and Alcalde (mayor) in 1841. In 1847 he bought Rancho Los Coches from a mission Indian grantee. Sunol, California is named for him. Suñol lived in San José, and his son, (also with the name Antonio Maria Suñol), moved to the rancho in the 1840s. There he built an adobe just west of the present Sunol Water Temple. Suñol lived there until his death at the hands of a squatter in 1855.
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