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This section is excerpted from A Memorial and Biographical History of the Coast Counties of Central California by Henry D. Barrows and Luther A. Ingersoll, and published by The Lewis Publishing Company in 1893. Return to Index Chapter 1Physical Characteristics - Location and Topography.The county of San Benito, its name being the Spanish diminutive of Saint Benjamin, was created as a political division of California in 1874. The principal portion of its territory formerly constituted a part of the historic county of Monterey. By an Act of the Legislature, passed subsequent to that date, certain additions to its area, aggregating 200,000 acres, were made from the counties of Merced and Fresno. San Benito county, as it now exists, is bounded on the north by the counties of Santa Cruz, Santa Clara, Merced and Fresno; on the east by Merced and Fresno, and on the south and west by Monterey. It lies between 36° and 37° north latitude, and mostly between 121° and 122° west longitude, and is from twenty to forty miles inland from the coast. Its longest extension is in the direction of northwest and southeast; it is enclosed between the summits of the Monte Diablo (Devil's mountain) and the Gabilan (Hawk) ranges. It is about seventy miles in length and averages something over twenty miles in width, containing about 925,000 acres. The county is naturally drained by the San Benito river, which runs northwesterly through the middle of the county, and empties into the Pájaro river. Tres Pinos (Three Pines) creek and several other smaller streams are tributary to the San Benito. Besides the main valley of the county, which is known as San Benito valley, and which merges to the northwest into the Santa Clara valley, there are numerous valleys of smaller extent within the county, to wit: San Juan, Santa Ana, Quien Sabe, Los Muertos, Bear, Panoche and Bitterwater (Aqua Amargosa), etc. Return to Index |
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