Following the American Civil War, some of the East Los Angeles area was owned by Alessandro Repetto, an Italian immigrant settler from Genoa, Italy. Following Repetto's death in 1885, his brother sold his rancho to a consortium of five Los Angeles businessmen including banker Isaias W. Hellman and wholesale grocer/historian Harris Newmark for $60,000, approximately $12 per acre. The land was later divided among the partners, one large parcel of approximately going to a partnership of Newmark and his nephew, banker Kaspare Cohn. It was out of the Newmark and Cohn share of that city Montebello had its beginnings in May 1899. After receiving the advice of hydraulic engineer William Mulholland for the drafting and building of the town's water system, the land was subdivided. In 1900 the completed water system was incorporated as the Montebello Land and Water Company.