The Vicente Martinez Adobe - 1849

Vicente Martínez, born in Santa Barbara on August 18, 1818, was the second son of Don Ygnacio and Martina de Arellano Martínez, who were married in the Presidio Chapel at Santa Barbara in 1802. Don Ygnacio Martínez served as a Spanish officer at San Diego and Santa Barbara from 1788 to 1819, became Comandante of the Presidio of San Francisco from 1822 to 1831, and in 1837 was the third mayor of San Francisco. Rancho Pinole was granted to him in 1823, and in 1836 he moved his family there, naming his home Nuestra Senora de la Merced, as one of the earliest settlers of the Contra Costa; the town of Martinez was named for him. After retiring from military service on September 30, 1831, he moved his family to the Pueblo de San Jose Guadalupe. When Don Ygnacio died on June 18, 1848, Vicente Martínez inherited this portion of Rancho Pinole and built this adobe in 1849. On October 6, 1853, he sold the adobe to Edward Franklin, for whom Franklin Canyon was named. In 1875, Dr. John T. Strenzel, father-in-law of California naturalist John Muir, bought the property from Edward Franklin.

Martinez, California · United States