He was one of the founders of the cities of Carson and Compton and of the fishing village of San Pedro (today a neighborhood of Los Angeles).
The gente de razón[2] family traced itself through pure blood generations in Mexico to ancestors in Catalonia Spain.
[1] Manuel’s father was José Cristobal Dominguez (c. 1761-January 6, 1825) and his mother was Maria de Los Reyes Ybanez (c.1763-February 5, 1834).
Juan Jose was the original holder of the vast Spanish land concession known as the Rancho San Pedro.
Manuel Dominguez was an heir to the vast Rancho San Pedro land grant in the Los Angeles Basin.
His political service included Alcalde (Mayor) of the Pueblo de Los Ángeles and Third Prefect of the Southern District of Alta California.
[citation needed] Manuel Dominguez inherited the Rancho San Pedro[3] in 1825 from his father, Cristóbal Domínguez.
In 1769, with Fernando Rivera y Moncada, he was in the first group that arrived at the site of and founded the Presidio of San Diego in Alta California.
In 1784, Juan José Domínguez received a land grant grazing concession named Rancho San Pedro, 75,000 acres (300 km2) of land and one of the first in California, by the upper Las Californias military Governor Pedro Fages on behalf of King Charles III of Spain.
Additional right of way from Wilmington to Rattlesnake (Terminal) Island to the Los Angeles and San Pedro Railroad was granted in 1871.
[3] This was the forerunner of today's Alameda Corridor, an express route for to and from the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach.
Disputes of Manuel Domínguez’s ownership of Rancho San Pedro originated with events that occurred while California was under Spanish rule.
[5] The executor of the estate, Manuel Gutiérrez, paid off the debts of Juan José and moved in, assuming rights of ownership.
He gave Jose Dolores Sepúlveda permission to run cattle on part of the land known as los Palos Verdes.
Governor Sola issued a decree that the Rancho was the property of Juan José Domínguez and ordering Sepúlveda to leave.
[5] Under Mexican rule Juan Dolores Sepúlveda filed a counterclaim based on permission of Gutiérrez, length of residence and substantial improvements to the property.
California had become part of Mexico in 1822, Manuel Domínguez sought and received two decrees from Mexican Governor Echeandia for removal of the herds of Machado and Sepúlveda, but Governor Echeandia confused matters by at the same time issuing Sepúlveda a conflicting provisional grant of Rancho de los Palos Verdes.
In 1839 Manuel Domínguez submitted and was granted a petition for los Palos Verdes and the Sepúlvedas were ordered to vacate.
In June 1841 an agreement was signed by the Domínguez family transferring all rights to los Palos Verdes to the Supelvedas.
[3] In November 1828 Manuel Domínguez was elected to the Pueblo de Los Angeles El Ilustre Ayuntamento (City Council) under Mexican rule.
[3] [8] From 1833 to 1834, Manuel served as a representative from Los Angeles pueblo to the Mexican Provincial Legislature in Alta California's capital of Monterey.
[3] In 1843, he was appointed by the Governor as the Third Prefect of the Southern District of Alta California, which gave Manuel authority over all of present-day Los Angeles and Orange Counties.
Upon Manuel Domínguez's death in 1882, and the passing of his wife just a few months later, the Rancho San Pedro lands were partitioned among his six surviving children,[15] all daughters.