Old Orange County Courthouse, Santa Ana, Orange County

Old Orange County Courthouse

The Old Orange County Courthouse in Santa Ana is Southern California’s oldest court building. C. L. Strange of Los Angeles designed the building in a modified Richardson Romanesque style that was popular for civic buildings at the time. It was built on land purchased from the town founder, W. H. Spurgeon, for $3,000. From its dedication in 1901, this granite and sandstone building has been the traditional home of county government. Today the 30,000-square foot building has been restored to look much as it had at the turn of the 20th century. The building still contains operating county offices as well as the Orange County History Center (which includes the Old Courthouse Museum, the Orange County Archives, and the library of the Pacific Coast Archaeological Society). The building is a State of California Historic Landmark and on the National Register of Historic Places.

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Santa Ana, Orange County
Photographer: Andrew Schmidt

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Photographer: Andrew Schmidt