Heritage Hill Historical Park in Lake Forest opened as Orange County’s first historical park on May 15, 1982. Since the mid-1980s, the Candlelight Walk at Heritage Hill has been a community holiday tradition.
More info & images
The Bob’s Big Boy restaurant chain was started by Bob Wian in Glendale in 1936 as Bob’s Pantry. Number 6 in the chain, and the oldest location still in operation, was built on Riverside Drive in Burbank in 1949.
More info & images
In March 1967, members of the Segerstrom family opened the South Coast Plaza shopping center in one of the family’s lima bean fields in Costa Mesa. It has grown to become the largest shopping center on the U.S. West Coast.
More info & images
Irvine Ranch was one of California’s largest producers of Valencia oranges, beans and barley. Orange County Parks adopted a Master Plan to restore the ranch, bringing in other ranch buildings, creating the Irvine Ranch Historical Park.
More info & images
The Lady in Blue, an unidentifiable tall man and sourceless singing have been reported at Irvine Ranch Historic Park for years, centering on the Irvine Katie Wheeler Library, a recreation of James Irvine II’s ranch house.
More info & images
The Citadel in Commerce didn’t start out as a mall. In 1929, Samson Tire and Rubber Company built the largest tire factory west of the Mississippi. The building was constructed as an Assyrian Castle in the grand style of King Sargon II.
More info & images
The long, narrow Santa Monica Municipal Pier was built in 1909. It became a popular place to walk and fish. A shorter, wider “pleasure pier” featuring a carousel in the Looff Hippodrome was built on its southern side in 1916.
More info & images