Orange County Almanac
After the Civil War, thousands of pioneers migrated West, including to what is now Orange County, lured by descriptions of the area’s lush farmland.
A land rush in the 1880s led to the creation of more than a dozen “boom towns”--many of which went bust with the local economy in the 1890s.
Places like Fairview in what is today Costa Mesa and Wintersburg near Huntington Beach disappeared. Others, however, survived and flourished.
The 10 oldest cities and the years of their incorporation:
City: Year
Anaheim: 1876
Santa Ana: 1886
Orange: 1888
Fullerton: 1904
Huntington Beach: 1909
Seal Beach: 1915
Brea: 1917
La Habra: 1925
Placentia: 1926
Laguna Beach: 1927
Source: County of Orange
Start your day right
Sign up for Essential California for news, features and recommendations from the L.A. Times and beyond in your inbox six days a week.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.
