After the missions were secularized, the Mexican government granted the land as ranchos. Governor Juan B. Alvarado gave the 4,424-acre Rancho Miramontes, also known as Rancho San Benito, to Candelario Miramontes in 1841. It covered the land south of Pilarcitos Creek where the town of Half Moon Bay grew.
In 1853 James Johnston bought 1,162 acres of the rancho and built the first wood-framed house on the San Mateo coast, which still stands. The Miramontes and Vásquez families settled on opposite banks of the creek.
Today the Johnston House, built on land bought from the rancho, stands at the south end of Main Street.
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