Editing Watsonville, California (section)

===Mexican era===
[[File:USA-Watsonville-City Plaza-Field Artillery Cannon-1.jpg|thumb|left|The cannon in Watsonville Plaza was fired in 1850 to celebrate [[An Act for the Admission of the State of California|California's admission as a state]].]]
When Mexico gained independence, it took possession of ''Alta California''. The Spanish missions were secularized in the 1830s, and the future Watsonville area became [[Rancho Bolsa del Pajaro]], a land grant made to Sebastian Rodríguez in 1837. Under Mexico's more liberal land-ownership laws, immigration to the area from Europe and the U.S. increased.

In 1833, Governor [[José Figueroa]] granted [[Rancho San Andrés]] to José Joaquín Castro, who came to California as part of the [[Anza Expedition|1776 Anza Expedition]] and later became patriarch of a locally prominent [[Californio]] family. His son, Juan José Castro, built the [[Castro Adobe]], the only two-story hacienda in the area at the time. Today, the adobe is owned by [[California State Parks]] and is undergoing restoration to serve as the Rancho San Andrés Castro Adobe State Historic Park.<ref>[https://www.goodtimes.sc/the-rebirth-of-rancho-san-andres-castro-adobe/ Good Times - The Rebirth of Rancho San Andrés Castro Adobe]</ref>