Alessandro “Alexander” Repetto (c. 1823-1883) was a wealthy sheep farmer from Genoa, Italy who at one point owned 5,000 acres of land in the Montebello/Monterey Park region, including parts of the Lugo family’s Rancho San Antonio and the elusive Rancho la Merced, which had already slipped through multiple hands (Soto, Workman, Sánchez, etc.). Repetto was a character, weighing up to 335 pounds and known for his homemade miracle cures. Yet he is mostly remembered for an 1874 incident in which he was robbed by notorious bandit Tiburcio Vasquez and gang. Repetto was mistakenly declared dead by the press in 1882; when he died for real the following year, his good friend Harris Newmark executed his will and bought his ranch, which was marketed as the Montebello tract in 1900. Monterey Park’s El Repetto Drive was named in 1953. Not sure why they added the “El”.
Find it on the map:
