Costa Mesa T-shirts, hats embrace ‘Goat Hill’ past

In its earliest days, Costa Mesa was known as “Goat Hill.”

Residents of that era didn’t particularly care for the nickname, which they considered snide.

According to the Costa Mesa Historical Society, the name first surfaced in the 1930s, when Newport Harbor High School opened. Newport Beach and Costa Mesa children, attending the campus together, developed a rivalry.

Newport kids teased the Costa Mesa kids, saying they were from Goat Hill, apparently because some homeowners in the semi-rural town were known to have goats roaming their properties.

Costa Mesa students, in turn, said the Newport kids were from “Mackerel Flats” or even “Cesspool Flats.”

One nickname stuck. It wasn’t Newport’s.

Now, in a move likely thought impossible generations ago, Costa Mesa City Hall is embracing the once-stigmatized nickname in the form of T-shirts and hats.

The new apparel bears the image of a horned goat grasping a flagpole with its leg. Atop the pole is a banner that reads “Costa Mesa.” The goat is standing on a small mound, with one foot slightly elevated, in a stallion-esque pose.

Fireworks explode in the background in a design made to coincide with Independence Day, featuring red, white and blue.

On the mound are the words “Est. 1953. Historic Goathill.” The year is when the city incorporated.

City spokesman Tony Dodero said the gear has been a hit. The T-shirts are sold out, but officials might make the hats available on the first floor of City Hall, he said.

Dodero said the city might order more Goat Hill apparel if there’s a demand.

The shirts and hats were designed by city staff and finalized by We the Creative, a graphic design firm that also did work for Costa Mesa’s 60th anniversary in 2013.

Funding came from hotel taxes earmarked for marketing and tourism purposes.