w a t c h
D I A B L O Save Mount Diablo
Protecting the Mountain Since 1971
Spring 2007 No. 43
Help Preserve Irish Canyon
Family & Land - The Mangini Ranch
SMD Makes Bold Move to Protect 320 Acres
By Anne Homan
“Irish Canyon is a gateway, in a strategic position to help protect and preserve an important area and to connect it with three different parks,” said Malcolm Sproul, Save Mount Diablo’s President.
Editor’s Note: After two years of work, and with the help of Contra Costa Times columnist Gary Bogue and his readers, on January 8, 2007 Save Mount Diablo closed escrow on the 208-acre Mangini Ranch. The final requirement of our purchase agreement with the Mangini family is that we put up a historic monument about the family and the property’s history. Text has been prepared by local historian Anne Homan, and the monument will be dedicated June 3rd.
“On November 16th we signed a purchase agreement with two Modesto doctors, Sawtantra and Aruna Chopra, to acquire the heart of Irish Canyon,” said Ron Brown, SMD’s Executive Director. “We’re buying 320 acres for $1.344 million. It’s a great way to start the year.”
Giuseppe (Joseph) Mangini immigrated to the United States from Genoa, Italy, in 1870. Five years later, he sent for Theresa Rozzi, and they married here in California. Giuseppe worked as a laborer while they lived in Pacheco and later in Somersville at the coal mines. In 1885 he bought his first property in the Concord hillsonly 22 acres, but it was the beginning of their quest for land.
The half square mile property is located near Clayton’s Oakhurst Country Club. It drops from the crest of Keller Ridge north across Irish Creek before rising toward 1894 feet Kreiger Peak. The old stage road to Black Diamond Mines Regional Preserve is now a public trail which passes within a Irish Canyon, Save Mount Diablo’s newest acquisition project (photo by Scott Hein) half mile of the property. Irish Canyon has great natural resources, an interesting history Giuseppe became a U.S. citizen in 1880, signing the document with and was once part of the Bettencourt Ranch. his mark. For $2,200 he and Theresa bought 160 acres in October 1898 that became their home ranch, the SE ¼ of section 15 T1N/R1W. In 1900 Giuseppe is listed in the census as a farmer.
“There are literally houses on the ridges overlooking this parcel,” said Brown. “Preserving Irish Canyon will help maintain the balance between development, historic land uses and our own East Bay wilderness close to a large and growing population.”
In Giuseppe and Theresa’s search for a better life, why did they choose the Concord area? Their descendants, who have visited the Genoa area, suggest that the two places have much in common: a landscape of rolling hills that turn brown in summer and green in the winter, a Mediterranean climate, and proximity to a large bay.
The Mt. Diablo to Black Diamond Mines Corridor “Thirteen years ago SMD bought its 333-acre Chaparral Spring property stretching north from Marsh Creek Road and Mt. Diablo State Park onto the face of Keller Ridge,” said Seth Adams, SMD’s Director of Land Programs. “It was our first step in creating a corridor between Mt. Diablo and the historic ‘Mt. Diablo Coal Field’ of Black Diamond Mines Regional Preserve.”
Giuseppe died of pneumonia in 1905 at age 59. The family had grown to seven children. Son Dominick moved to Oakland and opened the Mangini Grocery on Grove Street, but the others stayed to work the land. They also acquired more property. The oldest son, Andrew, bought 40 acres and a house from Henry Polley in 1908. Andrew’s brothers John and Joe bought the land in section 21
While the corridor focused on the narrowest open space gap, over to Black Diamond’s Oil Canyon, Chaparral Spring’s
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