ORANGE : Sample Landmarks on Walking Tour

The Gothic-style St. John’s Lutheran Church in Old Towne is well known as a local architectural treasure. But even the city’s old-timers may not recognize the area’s pioneer houses, the home that hosted a President or a house that was the set for stars of the silver screen.

The Old Towne plaza district, listed in the National Register of Historic Buildings in 1982, is home to at least 1,200 structures documented as historically relevant. A city brochure written by historians Phil Brigandi and Kathleen Les introduces nearly 80 noteworthy stops.

But for those with just an afternoon to spare, here is a 2 1/2-mile walking tour that samples 10 of Brigandi and Les’ landmarks. Some have even decked their halls for the holidays.

1) Begin at the Ainsworth House, 414 E. Chapman Ave., a museum dedicated to the city’s early lifestyle. Lewis Ainsworth, lumber businessman, built the home in 1910. The city bought it in the 1970s and restored it. Open to the public Sundays between 1 p.m. and 5 p.m.

2) Continue east on Chapman to Shaffer Street and turn left. Continue to 409 N. Shaffer. The 1901 Finley Home is where Hollywood landed in 1945 when filmmaker Otto Preminger directed stars Alice Faye and Dana Andrews for his movie “Fallen Angels.”

3) Backtrack along Shaffer to Palm Drive. Turn right and go to Orange Street. Turn left on Orange Street and walk to 221 N. Orange, the oldest documented building in the city. The building has changed greatly since pioneer Peter J. Shaffer built it in 1874, but a narrow staircase inside attests to its days of dormer windows.

4) Return to Palm and head left to Glassell Street. Make a right to Chapman University, 333 N. Glassell St., a stomping ground for the town’s first teens during its incarnation as Orange Union High School. The original buildings date between 1905 and 1925.

5) Pass the campus going north and turn left on Sycamore Avenue. Continue until Cypress Street and go left to 350 N. Cypress to find the Villa Park Orchards Assn. orange packing house. This site dates back to 1893, when the Santiago Orange Growers Assn. organized. The facility once packed more than 60 million pounds of oranges each season, according to historians Les and Brigandi.

6) Go left past the packing house and turn left on Palm, stopping at the corner of Olive Street. At 288 N. Olive St., take in a three-story Victorian mansion, the Pixley House, built in 1895 by Orange pioneer and Orange County Supervisor D. C. Pixley. Continue east to Glassell and turn right toward the historic heart of the city, the traffic circle and plaza.

7) The travel-worn can stop for refreshment at O’Hara’s Irish Pub, 150 N. Glassell St. This dark hangout for locals, pool players and local reporters is located in the city’s first brick store, the Woodruff Building, circa 1885. Those who prefer a sunnier rest stop can try the benches around the traffic circle fountain in the plaza, installed in 1886.

8) After a breath or a beer, continue down Glassell to Almond Avenue and turn left toward Orange Street. Located at 192 S. Orange St. is the Antioch Baptist Church, the only remaining Victorian church in the city. Built in 1891, the building boasts scalloped wooden siding and original stained-glass windows.

9) Head back to Glassell and continue south to 350 S. Glassell St. This 1915 classic craftsman bungalow, the Edwards House, is where Sen. Nelson T. Edwards entertained President Herbert Hoover.

10) Go east on Palmyra Avenue to Grand Street and turn left toward Almond Avenue. Go right here to take in the Gothic beauty of St. John’s Lutheran Church at 185 S. Center St. Continue down Almond to the corner of Center for a view of the 1914 building. Venture inside to consider the city’s history beneath vaulted ceilings and imported stained-glass windows.