Agustín Machado (1794-1865) was one of the four original owners of the 13,920 acre Rancho La Ballona (established in 1819 during Spanish rule, deeded in 1839 during Mexican rule) and the only one to live on the land at least part-time, along with his second wife Ramona Sepúlveda and their twelve surviving children. (His brother Ygnacio co-owned the rancho, as well as Rancho Aguaje de la Centinela, but preferred life in Los Angeles proper.) Although La Ballona was primarily a cattle ranch, wine from its vineyards was a local favorite. Shortly after Agustín Machado’s death, a small settlement called “Machado” briefly existed on the banks of Ballona Creek, but most of his land would be sold off by his kids to make up large portions of Culver City, Venice, and Ocean Park. Venice’s Machado Drive, in fact, was established in 1912 on land owned by Machado’s unmarried granddaughter Florentina Machado (1874-1963), the last of that branch of the family tree. Other descendants lived in Culver City; some may still. The Machados’ original adobe was located about half a mile from Culver’s Machado Road, a connector street named in 1994. Steps away from it, Ballona Lane and Augustin Lane were laid out in 2000.
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