Center Street, Anaheim, ca 1873 (Courtesy the Anaheim Public Library).

Orange County in the Sunny Seventies (1870s, that is)

In the late 19th century, local descriptions and travel accounts were standard fare for newspapers. While there was some news value in describing the growth of early communities, many of these accounts are simply thinly disguised forms of local boosting. Still, historians are grateful for them today, and they are an interesting source of local history.

Fortunately for Orange County, our first local newspaper, the Anaheim Gazette (also briefly known as the Southern Californian), was founded in 1870, just as many of our local communities were getting started. Its early issues provide a wealth of historical information. Here are links to some of the best of those articles . . .

* Santa Ana (December 10, 1870, February 11, 1871)

* Tustin (October 21, November 18, 1871)

* Gospel Swamp (July 6, 1872)

* The Prospects of the Santa Ana Valley for 1873 (January 4, 1873)

* Orange (May 10, 1873, January 17, 1874)

* Tustin (May 17, 1873)

* Westminster (June 28, July 5, 1873)

* La Habra Valley (May 9, 1874)

* Anaheim - Then and Now (June 27, 1874)

* Anaheim Landing (September 5, 1874)

* The Santa Ana Valley (November 14, 1874)

* Fountain Valley (February 27, 1875)