Rancho Azusa de Dalton
Rancho Azusa de Dalton was a large Mexican land grant in what is now Los Angeles County. It covered about 4,431 acres and was given in 1841 by Governor Juan Alvarado to Luis Arenas. Three years later Arenas sold the land to Henry Dalton, a wealthy Los Angeles merchant, who named it Azusa de Dalton. Dalton, also known as Don Enrique Dalton, built a house on Dalton Hill in Azusa. The Dalton lands eventually included parts of Azusa, Arcadia, Monrovia, Irwindale and Baldwin Park.
Arenas had received El Susa from the governor in 1841, and in 1844 Dalton purchased El Susa from Arenas and also Arenas’s one-third interest in Rancho San Jose. Dalton expanded his holdings to include Rancho San Francisquito and Rancho Santa Anita, ending up with a long stretch of land from San Dimas to the eastern edge of Pasadena.
After the Mexican-American War, the 1848 Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo promised to honor existing land grants. Dalton filed his claim with the Public Land Commission as required by the 1851 Land Act. He disputed the 1860 US survey and borrowed money to fight the case, but after 24 years the courts ruled against him. In 1885 Dalton handed Rancho Azusa over to J. S. Slauson, who deeded a 55-acre homestead back to Dalton. Dalton had received a US patent for Rancho Azusa in 1876 and died in 1884, having lost most of his property.
Slauson organized the Azusa Land and Water Company and helped develop the town of Azusa. Much of Rancho Azusa, except about 500 acres, was sold to others, including John Dustin Bicknell and I. W. Hellman. The town lots were put up for sale in 1887, and the Santa Fe Railroad arrived the following year. Azusa was incorporated as a city on December 29, 1898.
Henry Dalton was born in England and was one of several children in his family.
This page was last edited on 3 February 2026, at 20:05 (CET).