Orange County Real Estate

CITY OF ANAHEIM

Anaheim City Hall
200 S. Anaheim Blvd., Anaheim, CA 92805
(714) 765-5100 FAX (714) 765-5164

Welcome to The City of Anaheim, a community unlike any other. More than 340,000 residents and a thriving business community call Anaheim home. Anaheim boasts amenities that no other city can offer: a Major League Baseball team, National Hockey League team, the Disneyland Resort and the largest Convention Center on the West Coast. It is a world-class City perfect for raising a family, retiring or locating a business.

Anaheim is California's 10th most populous city and the oldest city in Orange County. The city was incorporated in 1876, covers 50 square miles, and has an annual budget of 1.162 billion.

HISTORY

In 1769 a band of sixty-three men led by Gaspar Portola came up from San Diego in search of Monterey and passed through what is now Anaheim. The future Anaheim was once part of a Mexican rancho, Rancho San Juan Cajon de Santa Ana, a1887 land grant to Juan Pacifico Ontiveras. In 1857 the first German settlers arrived garnering the name Campo Aleman, which means "German Camp" in Spanish. The name was later changed to incorporate the Spanish word "ana" from the Santa Ana River which flowed nearby, with "heim", the German word for "home".

The little settlement was unusual in many regards. First of all, it was a 50 member cooperative with each investor buying stock for two years before receiving possession of the property. They each received a half-acre home site as well as a twenty-acre lot. The home sites were in the center of town with the farms surrounding the town and connected to each other. The modern boundaries of the old town center were within Anaheim Boulevard and Sycamore, Lemon and Santa Ana Street. Next, none of these individuals had agricultural experience nor were familiar with irrigation - an essential component of farming in California and critical to establishment of vineyards for wine production. Last, a paid manager elected by the property owners guided the colony’s development. East, West, North, and South Streets bordered the “Mother Colony”.

By 1864 over 400,000 vines of mission variety grapes were producing 1.25 million gallons of wine. Unfortunately, in 1884 a microscopic virus, later named the "Anaheim Disease", decimated 25,000 acres of the grapes. After losing the grapes, but before the area became known for its oranges, Anaheim lent its name to a long and slender strain of chili pepper, still popular today, called the Anaheim pepper.

Though the railroad came to town in 1875 connecting Los Angeles with Anaheim, it would not be until July 18,1955 that Anaheim would be forever changed. That is the day Walt Disney opened his theme park and put Anaheim on the map. Just in the first year of operation 3.8 million people visited the Magic Kingdom.

The City boasts a variety of educational sources including 7 public schools, two colleges, and a library with 4 branches.

WHALE OF A FACT:

During peak season, (December through March), 40 to 50 whales pass by Dana Point every day, making Dana Point Harbor the best spot to Whale Watch in Southern California

Anaheim city website: www.anaheim.net

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