As one of the largest cities in one of the nation's most populous counties, Anaheim anchors a host of Orange County attractions, not the least of which are Disneyland, the 2002 World Champion Anaheim Angels, and the Anaheim Convention Center. But Anaheim's early history followed the hardscrabble route, with fitful years of early cityhood steered in part by hardy immigrant German vintners who, with a civic-mindedness, advanced the establishment of the churches, schools, banks, civic services, and a Carnegie Library that made Anaheim thrive. This collection of more than 200 vintage images reveals the foresight of such men as John Frohling, Charles Kohler, George Hansen, John Fischer, August Langenberger, and others who shaped the beginnings of one of California's great cities.
the tracks were removed in 1901. In 1885, Center Street (today’s Lincoln Avenue), pictured here looking west from the intersection of Los Angeles Street (now Anaheim Boulevard), was the center of Anaheim’s business district. Visible are a number of pioneering business firms, such as Hippolyte Cahen, Goodman and Rimpau, Bank of Anaheim (dated 1882 in the stone cornice), Pelligrin and Son (watchmakers and photographic studio), the post office, Hanna and Keith Real Estate, and the Western Union
Orange County. Charles Rudolph “Rudy” Boysen, a self-schooled botanist, created the hybrid berry that bears his name, in the Napa region of California in 1925. Unable to make a commercial success of this discovery, Boysen moved to Anaheim with his wife, Margaret, and young son Robert to be closer to Margaret’s parents. In 1932, Rudy gave a few of his surviving berry vines to Walter Knott, a local berry grower in nearby Buena Park. At the time, Boysen was employed by the city as its park
with substantial brick structures. The neighborhoods also expanded as the lure of affordable housing and Anaheim’s “Mediterranean climate” encouraged the returning World War I vets to settle here, thereby doubling the city’s population to over 10,000 by 1930. Anaheim was now being called the “Capital of the Valencia Orange Empire.” Anaheim in 1921 began the California Valencia Orange Show, as much to showcase the area’s most important product as to promote the community as a great location to
however, forced her back onto the American stage. After touring the country in a variety of Shakespearean roles, she and her husband relocated to a Santiago Canyon ranch that she named “Arden” after the fictional forest in Shakespeare’s As You Like It. Her first name has been applied to an Anaheim street and her last to a canyon and peak in the Santa Ana Mountains. Madame Helena Modjeska’s Anaheim home and ranch were located well out of town, and while she had dreams of living in a perfect
oranges in the city park (today’s Pearson Park) plunge earned her the right to represent the city at the California Valencia Orange Show, which opened its eighth year in Anaheim the following May. By the 1930s, Anaheim was literally surrounded by orange groves. The old 20-acre vineyard lots had long since been converted to orange culture. Seen here is the Fiscus property on South Los Angeles Street (now Anaheim Boulevard). Anaheim’s mild climate provided an ideal location for the citriculture
