FOCUS : 1800s Preserved in 1990s West Fullerton

Unlike many areas in Orange County, where the old has completely given way to the new, the past can still be seen, heard and touched in west Fullerton. .

The old hitching post placed in front of Fullerton’s first public library in 1907 was preserved and relocated on the grounds of the new public library built here on Commonwealth Avenue in 1973. Inside in the Children’s Room, the same grandfather clock that marked time in the old library for 65 years still chimes near the storyteller’s chair.

Across the street, Fullerton’s first commercial building has been restored and relocated to Amerige Park. The small, clapboard structure was built by city founders George and Edward Amerige. It was here the brothers plotted and sold the lots of land that formed the town of Fullerton in 1887. The current occupants, a senior citizens volunteer placement agency, are happy to show visitors around inside and explain the building’s history.

Trains still whistle through the neighborhood near the old real estate office, providing a vivid reminder that it was the 1880s land boom and construction of the Santa Fe Railway through Southern California in 1888 that brought homesteaders to the area and gave Fullerton its start.

The residential portion of the neighborhood is a sampler of California building styles from the late 1800s to 1950s. The oldest buildings are on Amerige Avenue, which runs behind the library and Fullerton City Hall. Along this street are numerous examples of Colonial Revival, Queen Anne Victorian and Queen Anne Cottage houses, most of them built around 1895. Many California Craftsman and California Bungalow homes are located on the wide, tree-lined streets that wind up the hillside from Wilshire Avenue to Valley View Drive.

Between Fern Drive and Valley View Drive is an area known as Upper Golden Hill. Development began here in the mid-1920s and continued for several decades, creating a mix of design styles within a small area. Large Tudor and Gothic Revival houses can be seen amid rambling ranch-style homes typical of the 1950s.

Some of those who raised their families in the neighborhood during the 1950s baby boom have moved out, and younger families are moving in, according to Viola Ward, who has lived in a bungalow-style home on Jacaranda Place since 1961. “I’ve seen more children on my block recently,” she said. “But things change slowly here. There might also be more traffic on Commonwealth these days, but we don’t have the same kind of traffic problems as other parts of Orange County,” she said.

Ward works as a receptionist at the Fullerton Multi-Service Senior Center where local seniors gather each day for meals or to enjoy a class in photography or watercolor painting.

Just outside the senior center, children play soccer or softball after school in Amerige Park and nearby Independence Park.

The neighborhood is also home to the current site of Fullerton’s first organized religious community. First Presbyterian Church, on Euclid Street, was incorporated in 1888 by local farm families.

The abundance of so many long-established institutions and historical artifacts gives one a sense of permanence here. Its well-preserved historical legacy is a gift to visitors and future residents.

Population Total: (1989 est.) 3,617 1980-89 change: +12.4% Median Age: 32.3

Racial/ethnic mix: White (non-Latino), 67%; Latino, 29%; Black, 1%; Other, 3%

By sex and age: MALES Median age: 31.2 years FEMALES Median age: 33.4 years

Income Per capita: $13,933 Median household: $27,279 Average household: $31,945

Income Distribution: Less than $25,000: 47% $25,000-49,999: 36% $50,000-74,999: 11% $75,000-$99,999: 3% $100,000 and more: 3%