About Orange County (Taken from County Web Site)
 
Orange County is called "The Gold Coast" of California with over 42 miles of Coastline. The County Seat is Santa Anna. It is the home of Disneyland and Knott's Berry Farm, and the Mission San Juan Capistrano known as the "Jewel of the Missions." On October 30, 1775 a large cross was set up and the ground was dedicated. In 1777, the first little church was built considered the Oldest Church in California, it is called "Serra Chapel" because it is the only building still standing where Fr. Serra celebrated the Lord's Supper.
 
Additional Prayer Points: Because in this county is the site considered to be the oldest church in the state let's pray for the Church of California. The word "church" in the New Testament means. "Called out ones." Here are some promises that talk about what we are called out to be: I Peter 29; 2 Peter 1:3; Eph 4:1; Matt 5:14-16
 
Prayer Points For State Government (Submitted by Senator Morrow)

Fear of God: Pray that the Governor, legislators, Supreme Court justices and other officials receive wisdom that comes from the fear of God.

Sanctity of Marriage: Pray state leaders will respect the sanctity of marriage between a man and a woman.

 
A Resurgence of Moral Values: Pray there will be a resurgence of moral values among state law makers and legislators when writing legislation and in voting for laws. (Include: Pray this will include a reverence for life that will negate the agreement with abortion and embryo stem cell research).

 
Improved Communications between citizens and legislators: Pray the citizens/residents of California will become better informed, more passionate and actively involved in communicating their views in the Capitol.
 

Pray there will be a new emphasis on civility in the capitol when debating contentious issues.
 

A Sense of Justice: Pray that all politicians will govern justly and wisely.
 
The Early Days of Orange
 
Originally, the area we now call Orange was inhabited by Native Americans called Gabrielios by the Spaniards.
 
The first landholder in this area was Juan Pablo Grijalva, a retired Spanish soldier who had marched through California with one of the early expeditions from Mexico. In 1801, he was given permission by the Spanish colonial government to ranch "the place of the Arroyo de Santiago." His land ran from the Santa Ana River and the foothills above Villa Park to the sea at Newport Beach. Grijalva lived in San Diego, but he built an adobe ranch house on what is now Hoyt Hill. (A historical plaque marks the spot at the corner of Hewes and Santiago Canyon Road.) After Grijalva's death, the rancho was taken over by his son-in-law, Jose Antonio Yorba, and grandson, Juan Pablo Peralta. It came to be known as the Rancho Santiago de Santa Ana. Both Yorba and Peralta had nine children, and their children and grandchildren moved to various parts of the enormous rancho. New acreage was added to the property until the family holdings extended from Riverside to the ocean.
 
In 1848, California was ceded to the United States by the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo. The boundaries of the Rancho Santiago de Santa Ana were validated in 1857 and the Yorba and Peralta families continued to live there.
 
In the early 1860's, one member of the extended family -- Leonardo Cota -- borrowed money from Abel Stearns, the largest landowner in Southern California. He put up his share of the rancho as collateral. When Cota defaulted in 1866, Stearns filed a lawsuit in the Los Angeles Superior Court to demand a partition of the land, so that Stearns could claim Cota s section.
 
It took two years to sort out the complicated relationships among the families and to determine how much land each one owned. The rancho was divided into 1,000 units parceled out to the heirs and to the claimants in the lawsuit.
 
Two Los Angeles lawyers involved in the lawsuit were Alfred Beck Chapman and Andrew Glassell, who took some of their fees in land. They had already started buying other sections of the rancho as early as 1864. By 1870, they owned about 5,400 acres in what is now downtown Orange. It seemed like a good location for a town; the nearby Santa Ana River provided water, the soil was rich and a stage road ran nearby. Chapman hired a surveyor to divide the land into tracts of 40, 80 and 120 acres. He called the area Richland and began selling the lots.
 
Although Chapman later liked to call himself the "father of Orange," the development of the city was actually guided by Captain William T. Glassell, Andrew Glassell s brother. He laid out the downtown area, bounded by Maple, Grand, Almond, and Lemon streets, with Chapman and Glassell streets meeting in a central "Public Plaza." Captain Glassell s home and office, on the west side of the Plaza Square, was the first building in Richland.
 
The town of Orange began as a farming community, although it took several years of trial and error for the settlers to discover the most successful crops. The first crops were grains such as barley, oats, wheat corn and rye. Many of the farmers then planted grape vines, primarily for raisins. Grapes were a major product until the 1886 blight that killed thousands of vines in Orange and surrounding communities. The settlers also tried growing tropical fruits such as bananas, pineapples and guavas, but without much success. In 1873, the farmers began planting orange groves.
 
Boom Times and Incorporation
 
In 1880, the Southern Pacific Railroad built a depot in Orange. Seven years later, the Santa Fe Railroad extended a line into the town. The two competing railroads dropped their passenger fares to attract customers, sparking the "boom of the 80s" in Southern California. Thousands of visitors came from the East, and many of them bought land in Orange County.
 
The 1880s were boom times for Orange as well. To help attract tourists, promotional flyers were sent out across the country and three hotels were built in the downtown area. New subdivisions and town sites were offered for sale. Two local newspapers were founded: the Orange Tribune (later renamed the Orange Post) in 1885 and the Orange News (later renamed the Orange Daily News) in 1888. The first public library was opened in 1885. Asphalt sidewalks and gas streetlights were added to the downtown and two streetcar lines began operating. The town s first bank, the Bank of Orange, was organized in 1886. That same year a circular park with a fountain was set up in the middle of the Plaza. The most significant event of the boom years was the incorporation of the City of Orange in 1888. At that time, it was a 3.1-square mile city bounded by Batavia Street, La Veta Avenue, Santiago Creek, and Collins Avenue. The first Mayor was William Blasdale. The following year, the southern half of Los Angeles County was split off to form Orange County. Both Anaheim and Orange had hopes of becoming the county seat, but that honor went to Santa Ana.
 
By the end of the 1880s, the boom was over. Local farmers were planting orange trees, but growing other crops while the trees matured. Farmers had to cope with the Freeze of 1913 and the Floods of 1916, but by 1920, oranges had become the city s premier crop. By 1929, Orange County was producing more than $12 million in oranges, with 820,000 boxes of the fruit coming from just one of the packing houses in Orange. However, citrus prices began falling at the beginning of the Depression and Orange, like the rest of the country, fell into an economic decline that lasted until the beginning of World War II. The late 30s also brought terrible weather, including a freeze in 1937 and the devastating Flood of 1938, which killed 19 people in Orange County. There were no fatalities in Orange, but there was considerable damage to roadways and farmlands.
 
During World War II, thousands of servicemen were trained in Southern California. The 30th Field Artillery Battalion was stationed in Orange while the men went off company by company to train in the Borrego Desert. Many of the servicemen returned to California after the war, often bringing their families with them, resulting in the biggest growth boom in Orange County history.

CSAC Snapshot Info

Official County Website