Brizzolara

Bartolomeo Carlo Felice Brizzolara, was born in Magnasco, Genova, Italy on October 13, 1826, the son of Francesco Brizzolara and Theresa delia Celia. 

Bartolo was one of the first registered inhabitants in the village of San Luis Obispo, being listed on the tax assessment records of 1854 with a valuation of $5,360. Mr. Brizzolara was involved with the sale of merchandise, as well as the raising and selling of cattle, even having his own brand.

Bartolo purchased commercial property for $2,000 on the corner of Chorro Street and Monterey. A copy of that deed can be found here.

Here is an advertisement that was run in the Tribune on October 25, 1869 proclaiming his merchandising.

Bartolo  married Adelaida Price in 1866. Of this marriage they produced 2 daughters and 3 sons, only Alferdo living to adulthood.

In 1868 Mr. Brizzolara purchased property from George Mattos and B Herrera which was located in the San Lucia mountains. Today this area is referred to as Poly Canyon.

The following paragraph is information about Brizzolara Creek titled "BRIZZOLARA CREEK: REFLECTIONS ON THE WATER THAT TRANSFORMED MY LIFE by Jessica Viramontes, a student at CalPoly.

Brizzolara Creek was named for Bartolo Brizzolara. One of the founders of the Josephine Mining Company, the creek ran through a ranch that he owned. Taking its name from the Rancho Portrero del San Luis Obispo, the previous name of the creek had been Arroyo del Portero, or “creek of the pasture.” 4 Of the more than 30 original land grants established in San Luis Obispo County after the area came under Mexican rule, the 3,506 acres within Rancho Portrero de San Luis Obispo included what is now Brizzolara Creek. Before Brizzolara owned the property, it belonged to Maria Conception Boronda who became a grantee of the Portrero de San Luis Obispo on November 8, 1842, and moved onto the property in 1847. Her husband died and she remarried Jose Maria Munoz. A trade took place shortly after the marriage and part of the Portrero Rancho was exchanged with Pedro Quintana for two houses and some acreage. There was a flaw in the title of the land which was first owned by Don Francisco Estevan Quintana, so the Quintana family was able to keep control of the land and pass it on to their children.

Bartolo was also possibly into bowling, he having a bowling alley which was located next to Fisher's Brewery on Brizzolara Street.

Here is the listing of the Brizzolara's in the 1875 city directory, showing Bartolo and his brother Luigi, and a S Brizzolara who is assumed to be Santiago, his other brother.

Bartolo Brizzolara passed away in 1881, and is presumed to be buried in the family plot in the Old Mission Cemetery.