Santa Ana : Historic District Wins National Register Listing

The Downtown Santa Ana Historic District has been placed on the National Register of Historic Places, the federal government’s prestigious official catalogue of properties worthy of preservation.

The district is divided into two irregularly shaped north and south sections. The north section is generally bordered by Civic Center Drive on the north, Broadway on the west, Spurgeon Street on the east and Santa Ana Boulevard on the south.

The south district stretches from north of 5th Street to 1st Street on the south and from west of Birch Street to east of Bush Street.

Of almost 100 properties listed on the Santa Ana Register of Historical Property, 11 have been granted permanent historical status by the U.S. Interior Department, while a 12th is pending.

The sites selected for permanent status on the National Register include Old City Hall, the West Coast Theater and the Oddfellows Building on North Main Street, and the Builder’s Exchange and Santora buildings and the Dr. Julius Crane House on Broadway.

Others are the Old County Courthouse on Santa Ana Boulevard, the Dr. Howe Waffle House on Civic Center Drive, and one property each on West 2nd, 3rd and 4th streets: the Southern Counties Gas Co. Building, the George Minter House and the Spurgeon Building.

Pending is the Yost Theater/Ritz Hotel on Spurgeon Street.

All of the the buildings were constructed during the last decades of the 19th Century or the early years of the 20th Century. Many have been restored, and several still are used today.