The first people to live in Orange County came here thousands of years ago. They lived by hunting and fishing, and gathering plants and seeds. Later, Shoshonean-speaking people arrived, the ancestors of the tribes we know today as the Juaneño and the Gabrielino.

In 1850, the new State of California was broken up into 27 different counties. What is now Orange County was simply the southern end of Los Angeles County. It took nearly 20 years of struggle before Orange County was born in 1889. The story begins in 1869, in Anaheim.

The links below lead you to a growing collection of articles and information about the rich history of Orange County, California. This collection includes previously published articles from a variety of sources (including the early publications of the Orange County Historical Society), original articles written for our Website, and ...

The Orange County Historical Society was reestablished in 1961, with some of the original members joining newer county residents to continue the pursuit of exploring and documenting the history of Orange County.

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Feb 13, 2025 · From there came a boomtown called Carlton and then Orange County’s first oil field with the moniker best known today with Brea-Olinda High School. Come learn some of the history of this northeastern corner of the county, including a display of artifacts related to the area.

Citrus was the crop that made Orange County orange. Citrus—primarily Valencia oranges—once cascaded in green and gold down out of the mountains and along the rich coastal plain in neat, orderly rows, divided by windbreaks of eucalyptus trees.

In 1973, the Society launched a new journal of local history, Orange Countiana. During the next two decades, five issues were published, featuring articles on a wide variety of topics by many of Orange County’s best historians.

Jan 9, 2025 · Historians Christopher Merritt and J. Eric Lynxwiler will discuss their new book, “Knott’s Bear-y Tales: The Complete History of the Whimsical Attraction”, at the January 2025 meeting of the Orange County Historical Society on Thursday, January 9, 2025, 7:30p.m., at Trinity Episcopal Church, 2400 N. Canal St., in Orange. The story of this ...

The Imperial Highway Association was formed in 1929 by civic boosters from Los Angeles, Orange, and Riverside counties. Its goal was to promote the construction of a high speed highway to connect the rich farmlands of the Imperial Valley with Los Angeles County.