Santiago Orange Growers Association Packing House
Santiago Orange Growers Association built and operated the largest packing house in Orange in 1918. The packing house and two ancillary building are located on the west side of North Cypress Street adjacent to the railroad tracks. The property was acquired by the Villa Park Orchards Association in 1967. Packing houses are generally characterized by their utilitarian design, prosaic materials, and lack of any characteristics of recognizable styles. Prior to the widespread use of electric lighting, daylight was brought into the building using a variety of methods including specialized roof forms to bring light into the interior. Chapman University purchased the packing house from the Villa Park Orchards Association in 2004 and has repurposed the building to house the Sandi Simon Center for Dance. The packing house contributes to the Old Towne Orange Historic District list on the National Register of Historic Places as one of several significant industrial structures.
Orange, Orange County
Photographers: John Bare, Andrew Schmidt