Felipe de Neve

Felipe de Neve (1724–1784) was fourth governor of Alta California, from 1775 to 1782. Neve is considered a founder of Los Angeles, California and helped to settle towns of Santa Barbara and San José whose surrounding communities became California cities.

Career highlights

First capital

Felipe de Neve was appointed governor of the Californias in 1775. For two years he was based at Loreto, Baja California, then moved to Monterey, California.

New settlements

It was during Neve's administration that Lieutenant José Joaquín Moraga is credited with building the Presidio of San Francisco, after the site was selected by Juan Bautista de Anza in 1776. Moraga is also known as the founder of El Pueblo de San José de Guadalupe, the present day city of San Jose, California. On 29 November 1777, Moraga founded San José on orders from Antonio María de Bucareli y Ursúa, the Spanish Viceroy of New Spain. It was the first Spanish colonial pueblo in the northern region of Las Californias Province, which became its own Alta California Province in 1804. The city served as a farming community to support the Presidio of San Francisco and the Presidio of Monterey.