Founders’ Park
Founders’ Park is located on the western boundary of the original Anaheim Colony. The Mother Colony House, the oldest remaining wood-framed building in Orange County, was built by Anaheim founder George Hansen in 1857. Threatened with demolition, it was moved in 1928 to its present location, property donated by the descendant of one of Anaheim’s pioneer families, Marie Horstmann Dwyer. The Woelke-Stoffel House, one of the oldest and finest Queen Anne style houses in Anaheim, was built in 1894 by John Woelke. Also threatened with demolition, John Dwyer bought the house in 1949 and moved it to the same property. The Moreton Bay Fig tree on the property, said to be the model for the Swiss Family Robinson Treehouse at Disneyland, was planted around 1876. The City acquired adjacent property in 2006 and 2007 and, after park improvements, dedicated Founders’ Park on July 23, 2011.
Anaheim, Orange County
Photographers: John Bare, Andrew Schmidt