Redwood City, Menlo Park and Aguililla

For 60 years, the American dream has attracted over 15,000 people of Aguililla to Redwood City & Menlo Park. Aguililla is located in the southwest corner of the state of Michoacan, the region that has long been the principal source of immigrants to the United States. Aguililla has a population of approximately 20,000 people. The municipality is comprised of an extremely mountainous region. The vegetation of the zone is made up of forests of encino, pine, cedar and madroño. Therefore a large part of the economic activity is based on small-scale farming. By road, the town is 240 miles southwest of Mexico City, 140 miles southwest of Morelia, the capital of Michoacan. The town of Aguililla was formed in memory of Don Andrés de Iturbide , a Soldier who died during a civil war.

Aguililla’s economy was boosted by money sent from Aguilillans living in U.S. and the emigration from Aguililla continued steadily.

Today, Aguilillan women outnumber men 54 to 46 percent. 72 percent of the population is under 30 years old. Aguilillans still migrate to the Bay Area, sending money back home via wire services advertised through out town. "Se puede enviar dinero a Mexico" -- "you can send money to Mexico"

The first occupants of Menlo Park were Native Americans of the Ohlone tribe. Then in 1776, Spanish colonel Juan Bautista DeAnza and his men arrived and began to construct a military prison and missions. Fifty years later, the Spanish king started granting territories to Spaniards of high military rank. The largest land grant on the Peninsula was the Rancho de las Pulgas, an area of 35,260 acres, awarded to presidio comandante Don Jose Dario Arguello in 1795. It wasn't until after the war between Mexico and the USA (1846-1848), that Argüello sold a portion of his land to the incoming Americans.

In 1854 Menlo Park received its name from two Irishmen, who purchased 1,700 acres, and built two houses with a common entrance. They erected a huge wooden gate with tall arches on which was printed "Menlo Park". When the railroad came through in 1863, a railroad official looked over at the gates, and so the name was officially adopted.

It wasn't until 1940 that families from Aguililla saw an opportunity to emigrate to the U.S. The bracero program was an agreement between the and the Mexican government to import Mexican labor for farm hands. One story is that Aguilillan farm workers were in the Salinas area when they met a foreman who ran a small store in Menlo Park. The men spent the next winter working at the foreman's store, and later brought more Aguilillans into the area.