Guide to the Richard Egan Manuscript Maps of Orange County MS.R.072

Processed by Processed by Adrian Turner; machine-readable finding aid created by Adrian Turner
Special Collections and Archives, University of California, Irvine Libraries
(cc) 2000
The UCI Libraries
P.O. Box 19557
University of California, Irvine
Irvine 92623-9557
spcoll@uci.edu


Contributing Institution: Special Collections and Archives, University of California, Irvine Libraries
Title: Richard Egan manuscript maps of Orange County
Creator: Egan, Richard
Identifier/Call Number: MS.R.072
Physical Description: 1 Linear Feet (1 box) and 5 digitized images
Date (inclusive): circa 1878-1879
Abstract: Four manuscript survey maps and one plat map depicting areas of Orange County and attributed to the noted surveyor and judge Richard Egan. One map is dated 1878 and 1879 by Egan. The other maps are undated and unsigned but it is likely that he drew them during these years. These maps primarily depict subdivisions of non-rancho tracts of land occupying what is now Orange County, with the addition of some topographical details.
Language of Material: English .

Access

Collection is open for research.

Publication Rights

Property rights reside with the University of California. Literary rights are retained by the creators of the records and their heirs. For permissions to reproduce or to publish, please contact the Head of Special Collections and Archives.

Preferred Citation

Richard Egan Manuscript Maps of Orange County. MS-R72. Special Collections and Archives, The UC Irvine Libraries, Irvine, California. Date accessed.
For the benefit of current and future researchers, please cite any additional information about sources consulted in this collection, including permanent URLs, item or folder descriptions, and box/folder locations.

Acquisition Information

Purchased and donated by the Friends of the UCI Libraries in 1995.

Processing History

Processed by Adrian Turner in 2000.

Biography

A surveyor and judge by trade, Egan was dubbed by the actress Helena Modjeska as the "King of Capistrano." He was a Los Angeles County supervisor from 1885 to 1889 and also served on a commission to develop the Orange County public highways. An Irish immigrant, he had arrived in San Francisco during the Gold Rush and eventually moved to San Juan Capistrano after amassing a sizeable fortune. He was active as a surveyor during much of the 1870s. Egan died in 1923.
For further biographical information, see Samuel Armor, History of Orange County California with biographical sketches (Los Angeles: Historic Record Company, 1921), 373-374. See also Pamela Hallan-Gibson, Two hundred years in San Juan Capistrano: a pictorial history (Norfolk, Va.: Donning Co., 1990).

Collection Scope and Content Summary

Four manuscript survey maps and one plat map depicting areas of Orange County and attributed to the noted surveyor and judge Richard Egan. One map is dated 1878 and 1879 by Egan. The other maps are undated and unsigned but it is likely that he drew them during these years. These maps primarily depict subdivisions of non-rancho tracts of land occupying what is now Orange County, with the addition of some topographical details.
Three maps depict non-rancho lands bordered by several ranchos, including one map with some geographical and man-made features in the western section of Boca de la Playa. One map illustrates the land occupying Rancho San Joaquin (including the present site of the University of California, Irvine). The plat map depicts the Mission at San Juan Capistrano.
Egan's signature can be found on the survey map of lands bordering Rancho Niguel. The other maps are drawn in the same, consistent hand. All maps are drawn on thin canvas. The lines are created entirely in black ink, with numbers in red and highlights in blue and red pencil.

Subjects and Indexing Terms

Surveyors -- California -- Orange County.
Plats -- California -- San Juan Capistrano -- 19th century.
Maps -- California -- San Juan Capistrano -- 19th century.
Maps -- California -- Orange County -- 19th century.
Rancho San Joaquin (Calif.) -- Maps.
San Juan Capistrano (Calif.) -- Maps.
Rancho Boca de la Playa (Calif.) -- Maps.
Mission San Juan Capistrano -- Maps

box 1, folder 1

Mission San Juan Capistrano, undated.

General Physical Description note: 42 x 42 cm.

General note

Plat map depicting town plaza and perimeter, including mission church and courtyard, adobe walls, some roads, orchards, vineyards, and cemetery. Scale is listed as 3 chains to 1 inch.
box 1, folder 1

Rancho San Joaquin, undated

General Physical Description note: 43 x 60 cm.

Scope and Contents note

Extends from the Balboa Peninsula (labeled "Sand Spit") to Laguna Beach (labeled "Long Beach") along the western edge of the map. Extends from a geographic feature labeled "Red Hill" and the Santa Ana River along the northern edge of the map. The map's southern edge is marked by public lands and Rancho Cañada de Los Alisos. Some topographical features. Scale is listed as 1 mile to 1 inch.
box 1, folder 1

Survey of lands bordering Rancho Niguel 1878-1879.

General Physical Description note: 47 x 52 cm.

Scope and Contents note

Signed "R. Egan, December 11th 1878 (date of contract) ... Feb. 26th 1879 (when surveyed)." Contains holograph note "Rec'd and filed in the U.S. Land Office Los Angeles Cal. March 29 1879."
box 1, folder 1

Survey of lands around San Juan Capistrano, between boundaries of Rancho Niguel and Rancho Boca de la Playa, undated

General Physical Description note: 29 x 45 cm.

Scope and Contents note

Includes topographical features and roads both in the non-rancho lands being surveyed and in the eastern section of Rancho Boca de la Playa.
box 1, folder 1

Survey of lands east of Aliso Creek bordering Rancho Cañada de los Alisos, Rancho Trabuco, and Rancho Mission Viejo, undated

General Physical Description note: 48 x 50 cm.

Scope and Contents note

Includes topographical details.