ALL ABOUT ORANGE COUNTY

Orange County is a county in Southern California, United States. Its county seat is Santa Ana. According to the 2000 Census, its population was 2,846,289, making it the second most populous county in the state of California, and the fifth most populous in the United States. The state of California estimates its population as of 2008 to be 3,121,251 people, dropping its rank to third, behind San Diego County.[1] Whereas most population centers in the United States tend to be identified by a major city, Orange County residents take their county name as their label of cultural identity. There is no defined urban center to Orange County as there generally is in other areas with one dominant municipal entity. It is almost uniformly suburban, except for some older urban areas such as downtown Santa Ana. Five Orange County cities have populations exceeding 170,000. It is also a famous tourist destination, as the county is home to such attractions as Disneyland and Knott's Berry Farm. It is often portrayed in the media as an affluent and politically powerful region. It is at the center of Southern California's Tech Coast, with Irvine being the primary business hub. Thirty-four incorporated cities are located in Orange County; the newest is Aliso Viejo, with Anaheim being the oldest. According to The Wall Street Journal, in 2005, Orange county was the second most expensive housing market in the United States with a median home price of $650,000.

History

Members of the Tongva and Juane�o/Luise�o nations long inhabited the area. After the 1769 expedition of Gaspar de Portol�, a Spanish expedition led by Junipero Serra named the area Valle de Santa Ana (Valley of Saint Anne). On November 1, 1776, Mission San Juan Capistrano became the area's first permanent European settlement. Among the group of explorers that came with Portol� were Jos� Manuel Nieto and Jos� Antonio Yorba. Both of these men were given land grants and their heirs also inherited portions of family land. The oldest of the Orange County land grants or ranchos was Rancho Santiago de Santa Ana granted in 1810 by Ferdinand VII of Spain. The Yorba heirs Bernardo and Teodosio Yorba inherited ranches in 1834 and 1846 respectively. Their ranches were known as Rancho Ca��n de Santa Ana (Santa Ana Canyon Ranch) and Rancho Lomas de Santiago.The Nieto heirs Juan Jos� and Antonio Nieto were granted land in 1834. The Nieto ranches were known as Rancho Los Alamitos, Rancho Las Bolsas, and Rancho Los Coyotes. Other ranches in Orange County were granted by the Mexican government post 1821, year of Mexican Independence, during the Mexican period in Alta California.

A severe drought in the 1860s devastated the prevailing industry, cattle ranching, and much land came into the possession of Richard O'Neill, Sr.,[3] James Irvine and other land barons. In 1887, silver was discovered in the Santa Ana Mountains, attracting settlers via the Santa Fe and Southern Pacific Railroads. This growth led the California legislature to divide Los Angeles County and create Orange County as a separate political entity on March 11, 1889. It was named for its most famous product (However, there was already a town by the name of Orange, California that was not named for the fruit, but rather for Orange County, Virginia), but other citrus crops, avocados, and oil extraction were also important to the early economy.

Orange County benefited from the July 4, 1904 completion of the Pacific Electric Railway, a trolley connecting Los Angeles with Santa Ana and Newport Beach . The link made Orange County an accessible weekend retreat for celebrities of early Hollywood. It was deemed so significant that the city of Pacific City changed its name to Huntington Beach in honor of Henry Huntington, president of the Pacific Electric and nephew of robber baron Collis Huntington. Transportation further improved with the completion of the State Route and U.S. Route 101 (now mostly Interstate 5) in the 1920s.

Agriculture, such as the boysenberry which was made famous by Buena Park native Walter Knott, began to decline after World War II but the county's prosperity soared. The completion of Interstate 5 in 1954 helped make Orange County a bedroom community for many who moved to Southern California to work in aerospace and manufacturing. Orange County received a further boost in 1955 with the opening of Disneyland.

In 1969, Yorba Linda-born Orange County native Richard Nixon became the 37th President of the United States.

In the 1980s, the population topped two million for the first time; Orange County had become the second-most populated county in California.

A spectacular investment fund melt-down in 1994 led to the criminal prosecution of County of Orange treasurer Robert Citron. The county lost at least $1.5 billion through high-risk investments in derivatives.[5] On December 6, 1994, the County of Orange declared Chapter 9 bankruptcy,[5] from which it emerged in June 1995. The Orange County bankruptcy was the largest municipal bankruptcy in U.S. history.

In recent years, the county has been characterized by conflict between the older more historic northern and newer southern cities over development, the building of new toll roads, and a recently defeated proposal to build an international airport at the former El Toro Marine Corps Air Station that would have reduced operations at the existing John Wayne Airport.

In 2005, a few months after the California Lottery joined the multi-state Mega Millions lottery game, a ticket sold in Anaheim that was shared by seven people won a jackpot worth $315 million, the first time Mega Millions was won in the state. The group chose the $180 million cash option.

Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 2,455 km� (948 sq mi), making it the smallest county in Southern California. Surface water accounts for 411 km� (159 sq mi) of the area, 16.73% of the total; 2,045 km� (789 sq mi) of it is land. Orange County is bordered on the southwest by the Pacific Ocean, on the north by Los Angeles County, on the northeast by San Bernardino County, on the northeast by Riverside County, and on the southeast by San Diego County.

The northwestern part of the county lies on the coastal plain of the Los Angeles Basin, while the southeastern end rises into the foothills of the Santa Ana Mountains. Most of Orange County's population reside in one of two shallow coastal valleys that lie in the basin, the Santa Ana Valley and the Saddleback Valley. The Santa Ana Mountains lie within the eastern boundaries of the county and of the Cleveland National Forest. The high point is Santiago Peak (5,687 ft/1,733 m), about 20 mi (32 km) east of Santa Ana. Santiago Peak and nearby Modjeska Peak, just 200 feet (60 m) shorter, form a ridge known as Saddleback, visible from almost everywhere in the county. The Peralta Hills extend westward from the Santa Ana Mountains through the communities of Anaheim Hills, Orange, and ending in Olive. The Loma Ridge is another prominent feature, running parallel to the Santa Ana Mountains through the central part of the county, separated from the taller mountains to the east by Santiago Canyon.

The Santa Ana River is the county's principal watercourse, flowing through the middle of the county from Northeast to Southwest. Its major tributary to the South and East is Santiago Creek. Other watercourses within the county include Aliso Creek, San Juan Creek, and Horsethief Creek. In the North, the San Gabriel River also briefly crosses into Orange County and exits into the Pacific on the Los Angeles-Orange County line between the cities of Long Beach and Seal Beach. Laguna Beach is home to the county's only natural lakes, Laguna Lakes, which are formed by water rising up against an underground fault. Residents sometimes figuratively divide the county into "North orange County" and "South County" (meaning Northwest and Southeast --following the county's natural diagonal orientation along the local coastline). This is more of a cultural and demographic distinction perpetuated by the popular television shows "The OC" and "Laguna Beach," between the older areas closer to Los Angeles, and the more affluent and recently developed areas to the South and East. A transition between older and newer development may be considered to exist roughly parallel to State Route 55 (aka the Costa Mesa Freeway). This transition is accentuated by large flanking tracts of sparsely developed area occupied until recent years by agriculture and military airfields.

While there is a natural topographical Northeast-to-Southwest transition from inland elevations to the lower coastal band, there is no formal geographical division between North and South County. Perpendicular to that gradient, the Santa Ana River roughly divides the county between northwestern and southeastern sectors (about 40% to 60% respectively, by area), but does not represent any apparent economic, political or cultural differences, nor does it significantly affect distribution of travel, housing, commerce, industry or agriculture from one side to the other.

Unlike many other large centers of population in the United States, Orange County uses its county name as its source of identification whereas other places in the country are identified by the large city that is closest to them. This is because there is no defined center to Orange County like there is in other areas which have one distinct large city. Five Orange County cities have populations exceeding 170,000 while no cities in the county have populations surpassing 360,000. Seven of these cities are among the 200 largest cities in the United States.

Orange County is also famous as a tourist destination, as the county is home to such attractions as Disneyland and Knott's Berry Farm, as well as sandy beaches for swimming and surfing, yacht harbors for sailing and pleasure boating, and extensive area devoted to parks and open space for golf, tennis, hiking, kayaking, cycling, skateboarding, and other outdoor recreation. It is at the center of Southern California's Tech Coast, with Irvine being the primary business hub.


Orange County was Created March 11 1889, from part of Los Angeles County, and, according to tradition, so named because of the flourishing orange culture. Orange, however, was and is a commonplace name in the United States, used originally in honor of the Prince of Orange, son-in-law of King George II of England.

Incorporated: March 11, 1889 Legislative Districts: * Congressional: 38th-40th, 42nd & 43 * California Senate: 31st-33rd, 35th & 37 * California Assembly: 58th, 64th, 67th, 69th, 72nd & 74 County Seat: Santa Ana County Information: Robert E. Thomas Hall of Administration 10 Civic Center Plaza, 3rd Floor, Santa Ana 92701 Telephone: (714)834-2345 Fax: (714)834-3098 County Government Website: http://www.oc.ca.gov

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