| Don J.M. Soto was lawyer, farmer, newpaper publisher and don of the
Santa Rita Rancho. This is his letterhead. |
This 1963 Californian article touts the Santa Rita community in
1852. It goes on to cite the beginning of the school district in 1869 under T.W. Clay,
county superintendent. That first school was where Hwy 101 is now. It burned down in 1877. |
This Californian article gives some of the details of the rancho
founded by J.M. Soto in 1852 and the planned town in 1867. First Sotoville, then New
Republic, and then Santa Rita, its fame waned when the railroad went through Salinas
instead. |