Orange, California

The City of Orange (often referred to as "Plaza City") is located in Orange County, California. It is approximately 3 miles (6 km) north of the County seat in Santa Ana, California, and approximately 32 miles (52 km) southeast of Los Angeles.

History

The original inhabitants of the region that now comprises the City of Orange, California were Native American peoples, known as Gabrielinos to the local Spanish settlers. In 1801, Don Juan Pablo Grijalva, a retired Spanish soldier and the area's first landowner, he was granted permission by the Spanish colonial government to establish a rancho in "the place of the Arroyo de Santiago." California was ceded to the United States by México with the signing of the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo in 1848, and though many settlers lost titles to their lands in the atermath, Grijalva's descendents retained ownership of his vast holdings.

Related Topics:
California - Native American - Gabrielinos - Spanish - 1801 - Soldier - Colonial - Rancho - United States - México - Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo - 1848

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In 1869, Los Angeles attorneys Alfred Chapman and Andrew Glassell received as payment for legal services 1,385 acres (6 km²) of land from Rancho Santiago de Santa Ana, which they quickly subdivided into a one-square-mile town with numerous ten acre (40,000 m²) farm lots surrounding it. Originally the community was named Richland, but when the town?s application for a post office was denied in 1873 due to the fact that there was already a Richland in Sacramento County, the residents chose the name Orange, perhaps in deference to the Virginia county birthplace of one of the founders.

Related Topics:
1869 - Los Angeles - Alfred Chapman - Andrew Glassell - Rancho Santiago de Santa Ana - 1873 - Richland - Sacramento County - Virginia

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The small town was developed around a central Plaza in the form of a traffic circle (or "roundabout") which remains to this day, and was incorporated on April 6, 1888 under the general laws of the State of California. According to company records, Orange was the first developed town site to be served by the Southern California Railway when its transcontinental rail line (the nation's second) reached Orange County.

Related Topics:
Traffic circle - Roundabout - April 6 - 1888 - Southern California Railway - Transcontinental rail line

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The town experienced its first growth spurt during the last decade of the 19th century (as did many of the surrounding communities), thanks to ever-increasing demands for California-grown citrus fruits, a period some refer to as the "Orange Era." Southern California's real estate "boom" of 1886-1888, fueled by railroad rate wars, also contributed to a marked increase in population. Like most cities in Orange County, California, growth thereafter was slow and steady until the 1950s, when a second real estate boom spurred development. Motivated by the development of a region-wide freeway system which connected Los Angeles' urban center with outerlying areas like Orange, large tracts of housing were developed from the 1950s to the early 1970s, and continues today, albeit at a much slower pace, at the eastern edge of the City.

Related Topics:
19th century - 1886 - 1888 - Orange County, California - 1950s - Freeway - 1970s

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According to State Historic Resource Surveys, Orange is unique among the region and the state in that it has the second largest concentration of historic buildings. A list of all of the buildings and sites in Orange that appear in the National Register of Historic Places can be found at , , and .

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