The City of Watsonville - Watsonville, CA
Posted by: 
saopaulo1
N 36° 54.529 W 121° 45.307
10S E 610899 N 4085481
A plaque in front of the Watsonville Civic Center.
Waymark Code: WM8P4H
Location: California, United States
Date Posted: 04/26/2010
Views: 3
"When the land expedition of Alta California led by Captain Gaspar de Portola passed through this valley in 1769, they reached the Pajaro River, which they named for a large straw stuffed bird (Pajaro in Spanish) with the wing span of 6 ft that they found in a deserted Indian village. It was this expedition which inlcuded soldiers, volunteers, Indians from Baja Claifornia and Father Juan Crespi that also discovered the redwood tree near Pinto Lake.
Years later in 1852, a small village named Pajaro was laid out along a narrow and dusty stagecoach road which wound through the Pajaro Valley and the Pajaro River into Monterey County. Merchants came to the valley, many from the mining fields, bringing their wagons full of goods. Tents and small roughly framed buildings sprang up along main street first called Pajaro Street. Spanish cattle often were herded through village and stopped to graze in an open field which was to become the City Plaza. Men were hanged for horse stealing and murder and sometimes they could be seen hanging from the wooden bridge that crossed the Pajaro River.
Pajaro was renamed Watsonville for one of the early pioneers of the Pajaro Valley, Judge John Howard Watson and incorporated in 1868.
Group that erected the marker: Unknown
Address of where the marker is located. Approximate if necessary:
275 Main Street
Watsonville, CA USA
URL of a web site with more information about the history mentioned on the sign: Not listed
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