Anaheim and Orange County History

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George Hansen, representing a group of German settlers, bought the land along the Santa Ana River that was to become Anaheim. Hansen planted 400,000 grape vines, turning the area into a major wine and brandy producer. A century later, Anaheim would become known as the home of Disneyland and Mickey Mouse.

The rich soil in northern and central Orange County produced barley wheat, grapes, walnuts, oranges and lemons. Dairy farms prospered in what would become Cypress and La Palma.

To the south, Dana Point and Newport Beach became busy harbors. Cattle and sheep roamed the wide-open ranchos of inland south county.

In the early 1900s, Huntington Beach landowners discovered oil, and films stars discovered Laguna Beach, first as a film locale and then as a convenient getaway.

The real boom in Orange County population followed World War II. After the war, farmland was replaced by houses in the county's northern, central and western areas, giving rise to the cities of Fountain Valley, Costa Mesa and Los Alamitoes.

The Growth eventually spread south, transforming still-rugged ranch land and productive farmland into housing tracts in the late 1960s. Now, the county's newest cities are forming in the maturing communities of the south county.

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