Tejon Ranch one of California's Largest Land Owners

As you travel along Interstate 5 north of Los Angeles County heading toward Barkersfield, you'll drive for miles along mountainous, sometimes foggy landscapes. Along the road you'll see a sign that says, " Tejon Ranch Since 1843; Preserving California's Legacy". Company  is one of the largest private landowners in California.

The federally-gifted lands still held by the Catellus Corporation, a successor to the Southern Pacific Land Company, are much more extensive.  It was incorporated in 1936 to organize the ownership of a large tract of land originally comprising four Mexican land grants, and began ranching in the 1840s.

The Army abandoned Fort Tejon in 1864. Beale bought Rancho El Tejon and Rancho de los Alamos y Agua Caliente in 1865, and Rancho Castac in 1866. With the purchase of these four Mexican land grants, Beale created the present day Tejon Ranch. Beale's son, Truxtun Beale, sold the Tejon Ranch in 1912 to a syndicate of investors headed by Los Angeles Times publisher Harry Chandler and land developer Moses Sherman.

Both had extensive holdings in the San Fernando Valley. In 1936, the Tejon Ranch Company became a public company, with the Chandler–Sherman group retaining a controlling interest.   Tejon Ranch Company Tejon Ranch is the largest private landholding in California, and today is owned by Tejon Ranch Company, a company listed on the New York Stock Exchange.  Its principal activity is land development and agribusiness, increasing the value of real estate and resource holding on this land.