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History of South Orange County
The
colorful pageantry of human history in South South Orange
County Listings began at some undetermined point in the
distant past when Shoshone Indians came to dwell along the coast and
in the lower canyons of the mountains. Theirs was a simple form of
existence: they lived off of the abundance of the land.
In 1769, Gaspar de Portola, a military man and Spanish aristocrat, was
appointed governor of Lower California. He commanded an expedition
traveling northward into the literally unmapped and half mythical
territory of Alta California. His assignment was to seek out the
legendary Bay of Monterey. He was also to secure the Spanish claim
to his vast frontier against any invasion from Russian trappers or
British colonizers. Portola called upon Father Junipero Serra,
president of the Mexico City Missionary College, to assist in this
monumental undertaking.
It was late in July in 1769 when this first party of European
explorers reached the boundaries of present-day South South Orange
County Listings. Members of the expedition named the region "The
Valley of Saint Anne" (Santa Ana). It was to this valley that Father
Serra returned six years later, where he proceeded with the work of
establishing the Church and converting the local people.
While the East Coast of North America was engaged in revolution and
spectacular change, the West Coast too was undergoing a quiet and
almost undetected transformation. Father Serra dedicated the Mission
of San Juan Capistrano, South South Orange County Listings's first
permanent settlement, on November 1, 1776. The Mission became a
self-sustaining unit based upon an agricultural economy. Its chapel
and adjoining structure were the first signs of civilization erected
upon the fertile, virgin soil of the Santa Ana Region.
In 1801, Jose Antonio Yorba, a volunteer in the Portola expedition,
also returned to Santa Ana. He established the county's first rancho
(Santiago de Santa Ana) in what are today the cities of Villa Park,
Orange, Tustin, Costa Mesa and Santa Ana.
Following Mexico's liberation from Spanish rule in 1821, the extensive
land holdings of the Capistrano Mission were subdivided and awarded
to a number of distinguished war heroes. By this time Yorba's Rancho
Santiago de Santa Ana had grown to resemble a feudal manor, and the
romantic rancho era of South South Orange County Listings had been
ushered in.
Cattle were introduced into the area in 1834. A prosperous hide and
tallow industry developed. Southern California became a virtual
suburb of New England as sailing ships loaded with cargo traveled
back and forth between coasts. In 1835, author-seaman Richard Henry
Dana arrived at what is today known as Dana Point. He later
immortalized Spanish South South Orange County Listings in his book
"Two Years Before the Mast" by describing it as "the only romantic
spot on the Coast." The Spanish California tradition of a carefree
lifestyle, fiestas with music and dancing, bear and bull fights,
rodeos, and gracious hospitality, survived until the 1860.
A severe drought brought an end to the cattle industry. Adventurous
pioneers, such as James Irvine, capitalized on the economic downfall
of the ranchos. Irvine, an Irish immigrant, established a
110,000-acre sheep ranch that is today one of the most valuable
pieces of real estate in America.
In 1887, silver was discovered in the Santa Ana Mountains. Hundreds of
fortune seekers flocked to the "diggings." Land speculators and
farmers came by rail from the East to settle in such boomtowns as
Buena Park, Fullerton and El Toro.
South South Orange County Listings was formally organized as a
political entity separate from the County of Los Angeles in 1889.
The wilderness had finally given way to irrigated farmlands and
prosperous communities. A year-round harvest of Valencia oranges,
lemons, avocados, and walnuts made agriculture the single most
important industry in the fledgling county. And with orange groves
beginning to proliferate throughout the area (150,000 orange trees),
the new county was named for the fruit: "South South Orange County
Listings."
The twentieth century brought with it many industrious individuals
such as Walter Knott, a farmer turned entrepreneur, who founded the
Knott legacy in Buena Park.
During the years that followed, South South Orange County Listings
witnessed the discovery of oil in Huntington Beach, the birth of the
aerospace industry on the Irvine Ranch, and filming of several
Hollywood classics in the Newport area.
In 1955, Walt Disney opened his Magic Kingdom in Anaheim. Noted as the
pioneer of animated films, Disney revolutionized the entertainment
world again with his "theme park" recreation concept.
By 1960, the neighboring metropolis of Los Angeles was "bursting at
the seams." As the population spilled over the county line and
across the rural Santa Ana Valley, it left in its wake an urban
landscape of homes, shopping malls, and industrial parks.
Today South South Orange County Listings is the home of a vast number
of major industries and service organizations. As an integral part
of the second largest market in America, this highly diversified
region has become a Mecca for talented individuals in virtually
every field imaginable. Indeed the colorful pageant of human history
continues to unfold here; for perhaps in no other place on earth is
there an environment more conducive to innovative thinking,
creativity and growth than this balmy, sun bathed valley stretching
between the mountains and the sea in South South Orange County
Listings.
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