Edition Marks 20th Anniversary

This weekend is a milestone for The Times. It marks the 20th anniversary of the daily Orange County Edition.

In that time the county has grown from 1.3 million to 2.1 million residents. The Times has grown with it, from an initial investment of more than $7 million in an Orange County plant with about 350 employees to nearly 1,800 employees today--and a total investment of about $75 million, with a $100-million expansion in the planning stage. Our readership has grown along with us.

But the story is not in the statistics. It is in the stories of everyday life that the paper reported in the past two decades as Orange County grew into the major urban area that it is today: like the unusually heavy rains and floods in 1969 that caused five deaths; like young David Rothenberg’s courageous fight back from the burns that nearly took his life; the Rams’ move to Anaheim; the growing frustration with traffic congestion, and the joy of the community rallying together, rich and poor, to help build the Orangewood home for dependent children and the Performing Arts Center.

When the daily edition was launched March 19, 1968, we said editorially that The Times was “proud to play a bigger role in this great and growing county.” The county is still great, and growing. So is our role in it. And so is our pride in being able to serve the community and record its history.