History

The following synopsis of the rich history of the Town of Moraga was written by Susan Skilton, Archivist.

Moraga History

The history of Moraga begins before the first settlers and before California statehood. The heritage of the Moraga Valley, includes striking ancient rocks and fossils, strong yields for ranching and farming, and transportation systems that are now used as open space trails. The cultural history includes Indigenous Saklan tribelets, and rule under Mexican and United States governments. When the town was incorporated in 1974, it already held a fascinating and diverse history. We explore some of this historical background below:

Pre-history in the Moraga Valley

The rocks exposed to view in the Moraga area are approximately 15 million years old. Plant and animal fossils, seashells, bones, teeth, and footprints of extinct animals such as mastodons, three toed horses and camels have been found in the Moraga Valley, in particular, in the area of the lakebed currently Campolindo High School, and the cliffs along Bollinger Canyon Road.

The Saklans, a Native American tribelet in the Moraga Valley

The Saklans, a tribelet of the Bay Miwok group, were the original settlers in the Moraga Valley. They fished in the rivers and lakes of the Moraga Valley. They harvested acorns, berries, and grasses and hunted deer, rabbits, squirrels and birds. Their territory extended from San Pablo Creek to Lafayette and through the San Ramon Valley. They obtained obsidian to form into arrowheads by trading with Native Americans in the Napa County region.

Joaquin Moraga and the Rancho Laguna de los Palos Colorados Land Grant History

The town of Moraga is named for José Joaquin de la Santissima Trinidad Moraga (1793-1855), a rancher. On 20 August 1835 Joaquin Moraga and his cousin Juan Bernal formally requested a land grant from the independent Mexican State of Alta California (Upper California). This was common practice for descendants of well-connected families and soldiers in the newly settled land. Mexico passed a law in 1828 authorizing such grants to encourage the development of a ranching economy. Alta California Governor Juan Bautista Alvarado awarded the land grant, initially comprising over 13,000 acres, Rancho Laguna de los Palos Colorados, to Bernal and Moraga on 10 August 1841. Joaquin Moraga and Juan Bernal and their families were Californios, a term used to describe descendants of the early settlers in the De Anza expeditions of 1775 and 1776. The Spanish government commissioned soldiers in the De Anza party to scout the geography in Alta California, and, with their families, to establish the first missions and towns in the area. Joaquin Moraga’s grandfather, Lieutenant José Joaquin Moraga (1746-1785), was second in command in the De Anza Expedition of 1775, and the founder of the San Franciso Presidio, which served as a fort.

In 1841 Moraga built a two-room adobe home on a hill overlooking what is now the site of Miramonte High School. This spot was chosen because abundant running water was nearby and the view allowed the family protection from potential attackers. The adobe ceiling beams and flooring were made from local redwoods. The Adobe had several different owners over the years, and in recent years has been unoccupied. In 1954 it was designated a California Historical Landmark (#509). Today efforts are underway to restore the Adobe and create a historic park around it.

Joaquin Moraga grazed approximately 1,000 head of cattle and 4,000 horses on the Rancho. Water for the livestock was available at the pond or laguna located where Campolindo High School now stands. Cattle were raised mainly for the hides, which were treated, stored and later sold at Oakland markets and shipped overseas.

Climate changes, including floods, and the advent of the gold rush in the mid-1800s changed the culture and economy of Alta California. Ranching took a downturn, while the population grew, and residential land was needed for the new settlers. In 1850 California achieved Statehood and was no longer governed by Mexico.

Under the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo between Mexico and the U.S. and following the Act of 1851, those who had been awarded land grants by Spanish or Mexican governments were allowed to keep their land, as long as the original grant could be proved in U.S. court. Proving the land ownership took many years for most of the grantees, especially due to various court challenges by land owners and squatters who claimed title to portions of the land grants. The Moraga family (and other families who held the original Mexican land grants) faced enormous expenses for attorney fees, grant surveys, court costs, witnesses, transportation and other expenses trying to prove their land title. The financial situation was complicated by mortgages taken out by many members of the large extended Moraga family.

Loss of the Land Grant and Early Plans for a Transportation System

Lawyer Horace Carpentier from Saratoga County, New York a prominent businessman and onetime mayor of Oakland, was one of the attorneys who represented the Moraga family. He took parcels of their land as payment, as did lawyers in other land grant cases. Carpentier continued to acquire tracts in the land grant as time went on, with an eye to developing a transportation system through the area to carry goods, including coal. Carpentier eventually lost interest in the original goal for a railroad extending from the Bay Area ports up to northern California and sold off his land interests. His efforts to establish a rail system were taken over by others.

Farming and Ranching Families

As was commonly experienced by land grant families after California became a state, the land holdings by the grantees diminished for the Moragas. The last head of household of the Moraga family to live on the original Moraga grant, Gabriel Moraga (1848-1922), was evicted from his home in 1880. Cattle ranching over large land areas was replaced by small dairies and farms, and by smaller ranches. Early ranchers, squatters, and sharecroppers included the Allen, Carrick, Gann, Harrington, Hunsaker, Ivey, Kendall, Magee, Madson, Merrill, Reed, Southard and Whiting families.

Railroads in the Moraga Valley

The Oakland and Antioch Railroad began operation in 1909. By 1912 Concord, Bay Point, Lafayette and Walnut Creek were all connected and the line was renamed the Oakland, Antioch and Eastern. In 1913 it merged with the Sacramento Short Line. In 1917 the Shepherd Canyon tunnel was completed, linking Contra Costa and Alameda counties by rail. Later the line became known as the Sacramento Northern Railroad, which ran all the way to Chico. In the Moraga Valley the train stopped at Sequoia, Canyon, Pinehurst, Valle Vista, Moraga, Saint Mary’s College, Burton, West Lafayette, Reliez and Saranap. Passenger trains ran until 1941. Freight service peaked during WWII and continued until 1957. Today, hiking trails have replaced many of the miles of train tracks.

Original Moraga Town Site Plans

In 1913 plans for the original town site in Moraga were drawn up. The designated town center lay in the area near the train station and the inn for travelers (known as The Barn) across from the station. The town hub was to be surrounded by residential subdivisions. The small Valle Vista subdivision was built in the 1920s, but did not endure, since the land was taken by right of eminent domain by a water company. Hiking trails and a staging area now occupy the former neighborhood. The town center itself was not developed in the original planned location due to lack of needed water access. Economic challenges in the Depression years stalled residential and commercial development.

Willow Spring School

Built in 1918, Willow Spring School was the second school built in Moraga, replacing a small wood building. The new structure was a very modern school with kitchen, cafeteria, cloak room, and a horse rail outside the door. This school served the valley until 1958, when the Donald Rheem Elementary School was built. The building for Willow Spring School still stands. Located on School Street in Moraga, it serves as a church.

Saint Mary’s College

The Moraga Company donated land for an educational institution, attracting Saint Mary’s College to the Moraga Valley. Saint Mary’s was founded in 1863 in San Francisco, and moved to Oakland n 1889, finally settling in the Moraga Valley in 1928.

Moraga’s bid for the United Nations Headquarters

The nations of the world gathered in San Francisco in April, 1945, in search of a location for the headquarters of the United Nations Organization. San Francisco Mayor Roger Lapham advocated Moraga as a desirable location with its mild weather and beautiful pastoral scenery. Eventually, the United Nations chose the big city of New York instead of bucolic Moraga.

Town Incorporation in 1974

Normal development that occurs with multiple-owner communities was not the case for the Moraga Rancho. Individual landlords would dominate the economic life of the former Mexican land grant, which led to a continued rural environment. In the next 50 years small farms and ranches dotted the landscape. Moraga remained primarily a ranching and farming community until the early 1950s. As subdivisions grew, Moraga residents sought to preserve the town’s semi-agricultural, low density identity. In November of 1974 an incorporation election was successful, and the “Town of Moraga” was born. There are two shopping centers, a library, plenty of open space, and a thriving volunteer community. The town celebrates its farmland heritage with the annual Pear Festival.

The History Center

The Moraga Historical Society was formed in October 1965 for the purpose of collecting, preserving and disseminating information concerning the Rancho Moraga and the Town of Moraga. The Moraga History Center, located in the Moraga Library building opened July 4, 1999 and contains files, photographs, artifacts, books, documents, oral tapes, dioramas, slides and films.