History of San Marino
The principal portions of San Marino were included in a Mexican Land Grant in 1830 to an indigenous lady named Senora Victoria Reid, the widow of a Scotsman. She named her rancho “Huerta de Cuati”. Prior to this grant, the area was part of the San Gabriel Mission (the "Old Mill" was the grist mill for the mission), and before that was occupied by indigenous people with their village located at what is now Huntington School
Naming the Land
In 1852, Don Benito Wilson took possession of Mrs. Reid’s rancho. Later, Wilson deeded a portion of his land to his daughter Maria de Jesus, known as Sue. Sue married J. de Barth Shorb, who renamed his rancho after his grandfather's plantation in Maryland, which in turn had received its name from the Republic of San Marino, in Italy
The San Marino Republic was named after a Dalmatian stone-cutter, by the name of Marino, who fled nearly 1,600 years ago from his home on the Dalmatian coast at the time of a Turkish invasion, and took refuge among the rocky crags of Monte Titano, which commanded a view of the Adriatic Sea.
Henry E. Huntington
In 1085 A.D., the Monastery at Mt. Titano canonized Marino and changed his name to San, which means Saint, hence Saint or San Marino.
In 1903, the Shorb Estate was purchased by Henry E. Huntington and in 1913 the three primary Ranchos of Wilson, Patton, and Huntington, together with the subdivided areas from those and smaller Ranchos, such as Stoneman, White, Rose, and others, were incorporated as the city of San Marino.
Seal Design of San Marino
The San Marino seal contains the three summits of Mt. Titano, upon each of which reposes a tower, fortified with walls built from native rock and capped with a bronze plume, all surrounded by a heart-shaped scroll with two roundels and a lozenge (of unknown significance) at the top. Underneath the left side is a graceful palm frond and underneath the right side, a branch from an orange tree. The crown representing the monarchy on the original was removed when the city’s Coat of Arms was redesigned by William Hertrich in the 1920s.
Schools of San Marino
The first San Marino school was opened at the corner of Monterey Road, (then called Calle de Lopez) and Oak Knoll, in what was known as the Old Mayberry Home, on September 9, 1917, with three teachers and 35 pupils, grades kindergarten through the eighth. Our high school students attended South Pasadena High until San Marino High School graduated its first class in 1956. Our high school nickname, "the Titans," comes from Mt. Titano, in the Republic of San Marino. For more information about the San Marino Unified School District, please click the link below to be redirected to their website.
San Marino Unified School District