Fullerton, California

Fullerton is a city located in northern Orange County, California, USA. As of the 2000 census, the city had a total population of 126,003.

History

This section is drawn substantially from Oranges and Oil, by Fullerton Heritage

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Evidence of prehistoric habitation is present in Ralph B. Clark Regional Park in the northwest of the city. Europeans first passed through the area in 1769 when Gaspar de Portolà led an expedition north to establish Mission San Gabriel Arcangel, after whom the local Native American population were dubbed the Gabrieliños. The land later became part of Rancho San Juan Cajon de Santa Ana, granted to Juan Pacifico Ontiveros, a Spanish soldier.

Related Topics:
Ralph B. Clark Regional Park - Europe - 1769 - Gaspar de Portolà - Mission San Gabriel Arcangel - Native American - Gabrieliños - Spanish - Soldier

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Ontiveros began to sell parcels of the Rancho to settlers flooding California in the aftermath of the 1849 Gold Rush, including Massachusetts native Abel Stearns. In the 1860s, Stearns sold in turn to Domingo Bastanchury, a Basque shepherd.

Related Topics:
1849 - Gold Rush - Massachusetts - 1860s - Basque

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In 1886 while in the area on a duck hunting vacation, Malden, Massachusetts brothers George and Edward Amerige, heard rumors that the California Central Railroad, a subsidiary of the Santa Fe Railway, was looking for land. Sensing opportunity, they arranged to buy 430 acres (1.7 km²) north of Anaheim for approximately $68,000.

Related Topics:
1886 - Hunting - Malden, Massachusetts - California Central Railroad - Santa Fe Railway - Anaheim

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They then began negotiations with George H. Fullerton, president of the Pacific Land and Improvement Company, also a Santa Fe subsidiary. They offered free right-of-way and half interest in the land to the railroad if Fullerton's survey were revised to include the proposed town site, and on July 5, 1887 Edward Amerige formally staked his claim at what is now the intersection of Harbor Boulevard and Commonwealth Avenue.

Related Topics:
July 5 - 1887

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In 1894 Charles Chapman, a retired Chicago publisher and a descendant of John "Johnny Appleseed" Chapman, purchased an orange orchard in eastern Fullerton. The Valencia variety of oranges he promoted from his Santa Ysabel Ranch, well suited to the local climate, proved a boon to producers; Fullerton boasted more orange groves than any other municipality in the United States. Cultivation of walnuts and avocados also flourished, and the Western railroad town became an agricultural center.

Related Topics:
1894 - Charles Chapman - Chicago - Johnny Appleseed - Orange - United States - Walnut - Avocado

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In 1904, Fullerton incorporated.

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In 1913, community college Fullerton College was established at its present location at Chapman Avenue and Lemon Street.

Related Topics:
1913 - Fullerton College

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Drilling for petroleum also began in the late 1800s and fueled the first real boom, peaking in the 1920s. Construction reflected the vogue for Spanish Colonial and Italian Renaissance-inspired architecture, as in the historic Fox Fullerton Theatre (erected 1925); the home of Walter and Adella Muckenthaler, designed by Frank Benchley (erected 1924); and the city's chief landmark, the Plummer Auditorium and clock tower (erected 1930).

Related Topics:
Petroleum - 1800s - 1920s - Italian Renaissance-inspired - 1925 - Frank Benchley - 1924 - 1930

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Significant public works projects were constructed during this period, including the conversion of a southwestern sewer farm into Fullerton Municipal Airport at the behest of Placentia ranchers and aviators William and Robert Dowling in 1927.

Related Topics:
Fullerton Municipal Airport - Placentia - 1927

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In 1932, Val Vita Food Products (later Hunt Wesson and today part of ConAgra Foods, Inc.) began operating a citrus juice plant in western Fullerton. By 1941 it had become the largest food processing company in the US.

Related Topics:
1932 - Val Vita Food Products - Hunt Wesson - ConAgra Foods, Inc. - 1941 - Food processing

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Through the mid-1900s the economy shifted toward manufacturing; southeastern Fullerton became an industrial center and the city became a producer not only of canned foods, but also of aerospace equipment, electrical and electronic components, navigation systems, and laboratory instruments.

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In 1949 Dick Riedel and Bill Barris piloted the Sunkist Lady, a modified Aeronca 11 Chief, out of the Fullerton airport to set an endurance flight record of 1,008 hours and 2 minutes. This record remained unbroken until the Voyager journey in 1986.

Related Topics:
1949 - Aeronca 11 Chief - Voyager - 1986

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Fullerton's population soared after World War II as veterans migrated to California, and in particular after the construction of Interstate 5 and development in neighboring Anaheim.

Related Topics:
World War II - California - Interstate 5 - Anaheim

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In 1957, the California State Legislature authorized Orange County State College, which began operating out of Fullerton high schools in 1959. In 1963, it moved to its present campus on State College Boulevard and was redesignated California State College at Fullerton. Other institutions followed, earning Fullerton a reputation as an "Education City."

Related Topics:
1957 - California State Legislature - 1959 - 1963

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In 1965, Harold Muckenthaler donated his family home to the city for use as a cultural center.

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In 1979, the Fullerton Arboretum, a 26-acre (105,000 m²) botanical garden, opened in the northeastern part of the city.

Related Topics:
1979 - Botanical garden

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Manufacturing growth leveled off as ever-soaring property prices, increasing environmental regulation, traffic, and other pressures increased. By the late 20th century the city had lost much of its rural character in favor of suburban housing tracts and shopping centers.

Related Topics:
20th century - Suburb

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Recent history

The first years of the 21st century have seen several political issues played out against a backdrop of class division (between the more affluent northern and western parts of the city and the southern portion of the city, which borders Anaheim), rapidly diminishing supplies of undeveloped land, and demographic changes (including the influx of Asian and Latino immigrants into an area previously dominated by Caucasians).

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As in many cities, growth and development are contentious issues. In the 1990's, the downtown commercial district had become economically depressed, and was known mainly for being an area of sleepy antique stores and small shops.

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A symbol of downtown's problems was the Fox Theater, a local landmark, which had fallen into disrepair. As of November 2004, a fundraising drive has accumulated sufficient funds to buy the theater, but not yet enough money to restore it.

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During this same period, the downtown area, especially south of Commonwealth Avenue, has become more of a busy entertainment district, described by the OC Weekly as Bourbon Street West. In less than five years, some 30 businesses that sell alcohol have opened, making the downtown area much more active at night. With the festive atmosphere have come problems such as public drunkenness, fights and a shortage of parking; a police task force last year has addressed some of these problems.

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There is a proposal to develop the Coyote Hills area, the last undeveloped area in the city. This controversial issue has pitted local environmentalists and slow-growth activists (who argue that the city should seek state funding to buy the area and make into a park) against the pro-business and pro-growth City Council. There are also plans to build approximately 300 condominiums or apartments downtown, leading to more density.

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The 293-acre Hughes Ground Systems campus in western Fullerton was redeveloped into a major new residential and commercial district, called Amerige Heights in 2001-2004. This development was accompanied by extreme shifts in neighborhood property values, first dropping precipitously in the late 1980s to early 1990s as the former Hughes employees sold their houses, and then rising rapidly as part of a general increase in real estate values throughout Orange County.

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