Rancho Pala
Rancho Pala was a 4,454-acre Mexican land grant in what is now Santa Clara County, California. It was given in 1835 by Governor José Castro to José Joaquín Higuera. The origin of the name is debated: “pala” means shovel in Spanish, but in some Native languages it can mean water. The grant was a narrow strip of land east of San Jose, running south along the foothills from Penitencia Creek to Norwood Avenue, about one square league in size.
The land began with Higuera but was later acquired by Charles White, a prominent San Jose figure who was born in Ireland around 1808 and came to the area in 1846 with his wife, Ellen E. Kearney White, and their two children. White was a leading citizen and served as alcalde of San Jose in 1848. He also owned part of Rancho Rincon de Los Esteros and Rancho Cholame. White died in the explosion of the steamboat Jenny Lind in 1853.
After California became part of the United States, the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo honored existing land grants. Under the Land Act of 1851, claims had to be filed with the Public Land Commission. A claim for Rancho Pala by Higuera was filed in 1853 but was rejected. The grant was patented in 1866 to Ellen White, widow and heir of Charles White. Ellen White later remarried Charles E. Allen, and she died in 1887 while separated from him. Her estate went to her son, Charles E. White, a rancher and attorney, and to her daughter Mary Elizabeth Staples, who married Frank X. Staples in 1881. Two other children had died earlier.
This page was last edited on 3 February 2026, at 15:05 (CET).