Orange County, California Warning: You are not logged in. Your IP address will be publicly visible if you make any edits. If you log in or create an account, your edits will be attributed to your username, along with other benefits.Anti-spam check. Do not fill this in! ==History== === Indigenous === [[File:Portrait of Jose de Gracia Cruz, a San Juan Capistrano Mission Indian bell ringer, ca. June 1909.jpg|thumb|193x193px|[[José de Grácia Cruz]] was a [[Acjachemen]] man indigenous to the area that is now Orange County.<ref name=":04">{{Cite book |last=Haas |first=Lisbeth |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/45732484 |title=Conquests and historical identities in California, 1769-1936 |date=1996 |publisher=University of California Press |isbn=978-0-520-91844-3 |edition=[Pbk. ed., 1996] |location=Berkeley, Calif. |pages=110, 134 |oclc=45732484 |access-date=December 5, 2022 |archive-date=January 11, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230111080251/https://www.worldcat.org/title/45732484 |url-status=live}}</ref>]] Archeological evidence shows the area to have been inhabited beginning about 9,500 years ago.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Koerper |first1=Henry |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/745176510 |title=Catalysts to complexity : late Holocene societies of the California coast |last2=Mason |first2=Roger |last3=Peterson |first3=Mark |date=2002 |publisher=Cotsen Institute of Archaeology at UCLA |others=Jon Erlandson, Terry L. Jones, Jeanne E. Arnold, Cotsen Institute of Archaeology at UCLA |isbn=978-1-938770-67-8 |location=Los Angeles |pages=64 |oclc=745176510 |access-date=December 6, 2022 |archive-date=January 11, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230111080309/https://www.worldcat.org/title/745176510 |url-status=live}}</ref> At the time of European contact, the northern area of what is now Orange County was primarily inhabited by the [[Tongva]], a part of [[Tovaangar]], while the southern area of the county, below [[Aliso Creek (Orange County)|Aliso Creek]], was primarily inhabited by the [[Acjachemen]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Martínez |first=Roberta H. |author-link=Roberta H. Martinez |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/402526696 |title=Latinos in Pasadena |date=2009 |publisher=Arcadia |isbn=978-0-7385-6955-0 |location=Charleston, SC |pages=10 |oclc=402526696}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=On Tovaangar {{!}} PRIME |url=https://prime.dailybruin.com/Tovaangar/ |access-date=2023-01-01 |website=On Tovaangar {{!}} PRIME |language=en |archive-date=January 1, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230101064107/https://prime.dailybruin.com/Tovaangar/ |url-status=live}}</ref> Both groups lived in villages throughout the area. Large villages were sometimes [[multiethnic]] and [[Multilingualism|multilingual]], such as [[Genga, California|Genga]], located in what is now [[Newport Beach, California|Newport Beach]]. The village was shared by the Tongva and Acjachemen.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Loewe |first=Ronald |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/950751182 |title=Of sacred lands and strip malls : the battle for Puvungna |date=2016 |isbn=978-0-7591-2162-1 |location=Lanham, MD |pages=138 |oclc=950751182}}</ref> The village of [[Puhú]] was located in what is now [[Black Star Canyon]] and was shared by multiple groups, including the Tongva, Acjachemen, [[Serrano people|Serrano]] and [[Payomkawichum|Payómkawichum]].<ref name=":03">{{Cite journal |last1=Tomczyk |first1=Weronika |last2=Acebo |first2=Nathan P. |date=2021-07-03 |title=Enduring Dimensions of Indigenous Foodways in the Southern Alta California Mountain Hinterlands |url=https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/1947461X.2021.1997515 |journal=California Archaeology |language=en |volume=13 |issue=2 |pages=171–201 |doi=10.1080/1947461X.2021.1997515 |s2cid=244551127 |issn=1947-461X |access-date=December 11, 2022 |archive-date=December 6, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221206191005/https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/1947461X.2021.1997515 |url-status=live}}</ref> The mother village of the [[Acjachemen]] was [[Putiidhem]] and is now located in [[San Juan Capistrano, California|San Juan Capistrano]] underneath [[Junípero Serra Catholic High School|Junipero Serra Catholic High School]].<ref name=":12">{{Cite book |last=Lewinnek |first=Elaine |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/1226813397 |title=A people's guide to Orange County |date=2022 |others=Gustavo Arellano, Thuy Vo Dang |isbn=978-0-520-97155-4 |location=Oakland, California |pages=158 |oclc=1226813397}}</ref><ref name="lat">{{cite web |date=November 27, 2002 |title=New Church-Indian Divide |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2002-nov-27-ed-indian27-story.html |access-date=January 12, 2021 |website=Los Angeles Times |archive-date=January 25, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210125195145/https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2002-nov-27-ed-indian27-story.html |url-status=live}}</ref> For the [[Tongva]], north Orange County was at the southern extent of their village sites.<ref>{{Cite web |last1=Greene |first1=Sean |last2=Curwen |first2=Thomas |title=Mapping the Tongva villages of L.A.'s past |url=https://www.latimes.com/projects/la-me-tongva-map/ |access-date=2022-12-19 |website=Los Angeles Times |date=May 9, 2019 |language=en |archive-date=December 28, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201228031020/https://www.latimes.com/projects/la-me-tongva-map/ |url-status=live}}</ref> In coastal villages like [[Lupukngna]], at least 3,000 years old located in what is now [[Huntington Beach, California|Huntington Beach]], villagers likely used [[te'aat]]s or plank boats to navigate the coastline, with fish and shellfish being more central to the diet.<ref name=":52">{{Cite journal |date=2021 |title=Olson Townhomes Development Project: Appendix D |url=https://www.huntingtonbeachca.gov/government/departments/planning/major/files/Appendix-D-%E2%80%93-Phase-I-Cultural-Resources-Assessment-.pdf |journal=Sagecrest Planning |pages=11 |access-date=December 19, 2022 |archive-date=December 14, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221214061725/https://www.huntingtonbeachca.gov/government/departments/planning/major/files/Appendix-D-%E2%80%93-Phase-I-Cultural-Resources-Assessment-.pdf |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=cyQ3AQAAMAAJ&pg=SA4-PA112 |title=Delineation Drilling Activities in Federal Waters Offshore, Santa Barbara County: Environmental Impact Statement |year=2001 |pages=4-112–4-114 |access-date=June 17, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191221063801/https://books.google.com/books?id=cyQ3AQAAMAAJ&pg=SA4-PA112 |archive-date=December 21, 2019 |url-status=live}}</ref> In inland villages such as [[Hutuknga]], rabbit and [[mule deer]] were more central, in addition to acorns from [[California oak woodland|oak trees]] and seeds from grasses and sage bushes common everywhere.<ref name=":13">{{Cite book |last1=Koerper |first1=Henry |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/745176510 |title=Catalysts to Complexity: Late Holocene Societies of the California Coast |last2=Mason |first2=Roger |last3=Peterson |first3=Mark |date=2002 |publisher=Cotsen Institute of Archaeology at UCLA |others=Jon Erlandson, Terry L. Jones, Jeanne E. Arnold, Cotsen Institute of Archaeology at UCLA |isbn=978-1-938770-67-8 |location=Los Angeles |pages=64–66, 79 |oclc=745176510 |access-date=December 6, 2022 |archive-date=January 11, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230111080309/https://www.worldcat.org/title/745176510 |url-status=live}}</ref> === Spanish mission period === [[File:Mission San Juan Capistrano circa 1921.jpg|left|thumb|From 1776 to 1833, there were 4,317 baptisms and 3,153 deaths of native people recorded at [[Mission San Juan Capistrano]] (pictured in 1921).<ref name=":6">{{Cite book |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/647873186 |title=Handbook of American Indians north of Mexico. Volume III, N to S |date=2003 |publisher=Digital Scanning |others=Frederick Webb Hodge |isbn=978-1-58218-755-6 |location=Scituate, MA |pages=445–446 |oclc=647873186 |access-date=December 19, 2022 |archive-date=August 23, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200823173736/http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/647873186 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref name=":04"/>]]After the 1769 expedition of [[Gaspar de Portolà]], a Spanish expedition led by [[Junipero Serra]] named the area Valle de Santa Ana (Valley of [[Saint Anne]]).<ref>{{cite web |title=A brief history of Orange County |author=Phil Brigandi |publisher=County of Orange |date=March 9, 2007 |access-date=May 28, 2009 |url=http://www.oc.ca.gov/RECORDER/Archives/forms/history%20of%20orange%20county.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090528102945/http://www.oc.ca.gov/recorder/Archives/forms/history%20of%20orange%20county.pdf |archive-date=May 28, 2009 |url-status=dead}}</ref> On November 1, 1776, [[Mission San Juan Capistrano]] became the area's first permanent European settlement. Among those who came with Portolá were [[Rancho Los Nietos|José Manuel Nieto]] and [[José Antonio Yorba]]. Both these men were given land grants—[[Rancho Los Nietos]] and [[Rancho Santiago de Santa Ana]], respectively.<ref name=":1" /> The Nieto heirs were granted land in 1834. The Nieto ranches were known as [[Rancho Los Alamitos]], [[Rancho Las Bolsas]], and [[Rancho Los Coyotes]]. Yorba heirs [[Bernardo Yorba]] and [[José Antonio Yorba|Teodosio Yorba]] were also granted [[Rancho Cañón de Santa Ana]] (Santa Ana Canyon Ranch) and [[Rancho Lomas de Santiago]], respectively. Other ranchos in Orange County were granted by the Mexican government during the Mexican period in [[Alta California]].<ref name=":1">{{cite web |url=http://egov.ocgov.com/vgnfiles/ocgov/Clerk-Recorder/Docs/Archives/Spanish_and_Mexican_Ranchos.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110726003947/http://egov.ocgov.com/vgnfiles/ocgov/Clerk-Recorder/Docs/Archives/Spanish_and_Mexican_Ranchos.pdf |url-status=dead |title=Spanish and Mexican Ranchos of Orange County |archive-date=July 26, 2011}}</ref> [[Saint]] [[Junípero Serra]] y Ferrer and the early components of the [[Portolá expedition|Portolá Expedition]] arrived in modern-day [[San Diego]], south of present-day Orange County, in mid-late 1769. During these early [[Spanish missions in California|Mission]] years, however, the early immigrants continued to rely on imports of both [[Mexican wine|Mexican-grown]] and [[Spanish wine|Spanish-grown]] wines; Serra repeatedly complained of the process of repeated, labored import.<ref name="Pinney">{{Cite book |last=Pinney |first=Thomas |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fmcwfK5G_YkC&q=capistrano |title=A History of Wine in America from the Beginnings to Prohibition: From the Beginnings to Prohibition |date=January 1, 1989 |publisher=University of California Press |isbn=978-0-520-06224-5 |language=en |access-date=February 10, 2021 |archive-date=March 7, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210307055945/https://books.google.com/books?id=fmcwfK5G_YkC&q=capistrano |url-status=live}}</ref> The first grape crop production was produced in 1782 at [[San Juan Capistrano]], with vines potentially brought through supply ships in 1778.<ref name="Pinney" /> === 19th century === [[Viticulture]] became an increasingly important crop in [[Los Angeles County, California|Los Angeles]] and Orange Counties through the subsequent decades. By the 1850s, the regions supported more than 100 [[vineyard]]s.<ref name="OC Wine Country Booms">{{cite web |date=August 2, 2017 |title=OC Wine Country Booms |url=https://www.ocregister.com/2017/08/02/oc-wine-country-booms/ |access-date=February 10, 2021 |website=Orange County Register |language=en-US |archive-date=February 12, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210212213604/https://www.ocregister.com/2017/08/02/oc-wine-country-booms/ |url-status=live}}</ref> In 1857, [[Anaheim]] was founded by 50 [[German-Americans]] (with lineage extending back to [[Franconia (wine region)|Franconia]]) in search of a suitable grape-growing region.<ref>{{cite web |date=October 5, 2019 |title=1857: Germans Found a City in California (Anaheim) |url=https://history.info/on-this-day/1857-germans-found-a-city-in-california-anaheim/ |access-date=February 10, 2021 |website=History.info |language=en-US |archive-date=February 13, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210213061231/https://history.info/on-this-day/1857-germans-found-a-city-in-california-anaheim/ |url-status=live}}</ref> This group purchased a {{convert|1,165|acre|km2}} parcel from Juan Pacifico Ontiveros's Rancho San Juan Cajon de Santa Ana for $2 per acre and later formed the [[Anaheim Vineyard Company]].<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Holt |first=Raymond M. |date=1946 |title=The Fruits of Viticulture in Orange County |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/41168077 |journal=The Quarterly: Historical Society of Southern California |volume=28 |issue=1 |pages=7–33 |doi=10.2307/41168077 |jstor=41168077 |issn=2162-9358 |access-date=February 10, 2021 |archive-date=February 10, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220210233744/https://www.jstor.org/stable/41168077 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="OC Wine Country Booms" /> With surveyor [[Gates of Anaheim|George Hansen]], two of the wine colony's founders, John Frohling and Charles Kohler, planted 400,000 [[Vitis vinifera|grapevines]] along the [[Santa Ana River]]; by 1875, "there were as many as 50 [[Winery|wineries]] in Anaheim, and the city's wine production topped 1 million gallons annually."<ref name="OC Wine Country Booms" /> Despite later afflictions of both [[Phylloxera]] and [[Xylella fastidiosa|Pierce's Disease]], wine growing is still practiced.<ref>{{cite web |date=September 25, 2018 |title=Wine Tasting in Orange County |work=Enjoy OC |url=https://enjoyorangecounty.com/wine-tasting-orange-county/ |access-date=February 10, 2021 |language=en-US |archive-date=November 24, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201124172516/https://enjoyorangecounty.com/wine-tasting-orange-county/ |url-status=live}}</ref> A severe drought in the 1860s devastated the prevailing industry, [[cattle]] [[ranching]], and much land came into the possession of Richard O'Neill Sr.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://ranchomissionviejo.com/blog/the-reserve-at-rancho-mission-viejo-a-rich-history/ |title=The Reserve at Rancho Mission Viejo: A Rich History |work=Rancho Mission Viejo |access-date=July 8, 2015 |archive-date=July 9, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150709200108/http://ranchomissionviejo.com/blog/the-reserve-at-rancho-mission-viejo-a-rich-history/ |url-status=live}}</ref> [[James Irvine (landowner)|James Irvine]] and other [[land baron]]s. In 1887, [[silver]] was discovered in the [[Santa Ana Mountains]], attracting settlers via the [[Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway|Santa Fe]] and [[Southern Pacific Railroad]]s. High rates of Anglo migration gradually moved Mexicans into ''colonias'', or segregated [[ethnic enclave]]s.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book |last=Santillan |first=Richard |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/851387685 |title=Mexican American baseball in Orange County |date=2013 |others=Susan Luévano-Molina, Luis F. Fernández, Angelina F. Veyna |isbn=978-0-7385-9673-0 |location=Charleston, South Carolina |pages=8 |oclc=851387685 |access-date=December 5, 2022 |archive-date=January 11, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230111080254/https://www.worldcat.org/title/851387685 |url-status=live}}</ref> ==== County establishment ==== [[File:Los Angeles County Before OC Secession.svg|thumb|200px|[[Los Angeles County]] before the secession of Orange County in 1889|left]] After several failed attempts in previous sessions, the [[California legislature]] passed a bill authorizing the portion of [[Los Angeles County]] south of [[Coyote Creek (San Gabriel River tributary)|Coyote Creek]] to hold a referendum on whether to remain part of Los Angeles County or to secede and form a new county to be named "Orange" as directed by the legislature. The referendum required a 2/3 vote for secession to take place, and on June 4, 1889, the vote was 2,509 to 500 in favor of secession. After the referendum, Los Angeles County filed three lawsuits to prevent the secession,{{fact|date=December 2023}} but their attempts were futile.{{fact|date=December 2023}} On July 17, 1889, a second referendum was held south of the Coyote Creek to determine if the county seat of the new county would be Anaheim or Santa Ana, along with an election for every county officer. Santa Ana defeated Anaheim in the referendum. With the referendum having passed, the County of Orange was officially incorporated on August 1, 1889.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.kcet.org/shows/lost-la/how-orange-county-seceded-from-los-angeles |title=How Orange County Seceded from Los Angeles |first=Nathan |last=Masters |date=August 16, 2013 |website=KCET |access-date=December 28, 2018 |archive-date=December 28, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181228131246/https://www.kcet.org/shows/lost-la/how-orange-county-seceded-from-los-angeles |url-status=live}}</ref> Since the incorporation of the county, the only geographical changes made to the boundary was when the County and Los Angeles County traded some parcels of land around Coyote Creek to conform to city blocks.{{when|date=November 2022}} The county is said to have been named for the [[citrus fruit]] in an attempt to promote immigration by suggesting a semi-tropical paradise – a place where anything could grow.<ref>Sleeper, Jim. "How Orange County Got Its Name" (1974). [http://ocgov.com/civicax/filebank/blobdload.aspx?BlobID=4286] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181106202549/http://www.ocgov.com/civicax/filebank/blobdload.aspx?BlobID=4286|date=November 6, 2018}}. Retrieved December 10, 2014.</ref> === 20th century === [[File:Old Mission orange crate label.jpg|thumb|Advertisement for the [[Valencia orange]], which became the major industrial crop by the 1920s|left]] Other citrus crops, [[avocado]]s, and [[Petroleum|oil]] extraction were also important to the early economy. Orange County benefited from the July 4, 1904, completion of the [[Pacific Electric Railway]], a [[Tram|trolley]] connecting [[Los Angeles]] with Santa Ana and [[Newport Beach]]. The link made Orange County an accessible weekend retreat for celebrities of early [[Cinema of the United States|Hollywood]]. It was deemed so significant that Pacific City changed its name to [[Huntington Beach]] in honor of [[Henry E. Huntington]], president of the Pacific Electric and nephew of [[Collis Huntington]]. Transportation further improved with the completion of the State Route and [[U.S. Route 101 in California|U.S. Route 101]] (now mostly [[Interstate 5 in California|Interstate 5]]) in the 1920s. [[File:Orange County map 1921.jpg|thumb|200px|Orange County map, 1921]] In the 1910s, agriculture in Orange County was largely centered on grains, hay, and potatoes by small farmers, accounting for 60% of the county's exports. The [[Henry Segerstrom|Segerstrom]]s and Irvines once produced so many [[lima bean]]s that the county was called "Beanville".<ref>{{cite news |last1=Parsons |first1=Dana |date=14 May 1988 |title=The Lima Legacy: Compared to Past Plenty, Today's Few Fields Yield Hardly a Hill of Beans |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1988-05-14-li-2852-story.html |work=Los Angeles Times |location=Los Angeles |access-date=11 January 2023}}</ref> By 1920, fruit and nut exports exploded, which led to the increase of industrialized farming and the decline of family farms. For example, by 1917, William Chapman came to own 350,000 acres in northeastern Orange County from the [[Valencia orange]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Haas |first=Lisbeth |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/45732484 |title=Conquests and historical identities in California, 1769-1936 |date=1996 |publisher=University of California Press |isbn=978-0-520-91844-3 |edition=[Pbk. ed., 1996] |location=Berkeley, Calif. |pages=122 |oclc=45732484 |access-date=December 5, 2022 |archive-date=January 11, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230111080251/https://www.worldcat.org/title/45732484 |url-status=live}}</ref> Around the 1910s and 1920s, most of the ''barrios'' of Orange County, such as in Santa Ana, further developed as [[company town]]s of Mexican laborers, who worked in the industrial orange groves.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Haas |first=Lisbeth |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/45732484 |title=Conquests and historical identities in California, 1769-1936 |date=1996 |publisher=University of California Press |isbn=978-0-520-91844-3 |edition=[Pbk. ed., 1996] |location=Berkeley, Calif. |pages=199 |oclc=45732484 |access-date=December 5, 2022 |archive-date=January 11, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230111080251/https://www.worldcat.org/title/45732484 |url-status=live}}</ref> Poor working conditions resulted in the [[Citrus Strike of 1936]], in which more than half of the orange industry's workforce, largely Mexican, demanded better working conditions. The strike was heavily repressed, with forced evictions and state-sanctioned violence being used as tactics of suppression.<ref>{{Cite web |title=The Citrus War of 1936 Changed Orange County Forever and Cemented Our Mistrust of Mexicans – OC Weekly |url=https://www.ocweekly.com/gunkist-oranges-6421842/ |access-date=2022-12-05 |website=OC Weekly |date=June 8, 2006 |archive-date=December 5, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221205023856/https://www.ocweekly.com/gunkist-oranges-6421842/ |url-status=live}}</ref> [[Carey McWilliams (journalist)|Carey McWilliams]] referred to the suppression as "the toughest violation of civil rights in the nation."<ref name=":0" /> The [[Los Angeles flood of 1938]] devastated some areas of Orange County, with most of the effects being in Santa Ana and Anaheim, which were flooded with six feet of water. As an eight-foot-high rush of water further spilled out of the [[Santa Ana Canyon]], forty-three people were killed in the predominately Mexican communities of [[Atwood, Placentia, California|Atwood]] and [[La Jolla, Placentia, California|La Jolla]] in [[Placentia, California|Placentia]].<ref>{{Cite web |date=2012-11-29 |title=The Santa Ana River: How It Shaped Orange County |url=https://www.kcet.org/shows/lost-la/the-santa-ana-river-how-it-shaped-orange-county |access-date=2022-12-05 |website=KCET |language=en |archive-date=December 5, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221205203104/https://www.kcet.org/shows/lost-la/the-santa-ana-river-how-it-shaped-orange-county |url-status=live}}</ref> The devastation from this event, as well as from the [[1939 California tropical storm]], meant that Orange County was in need of new infrastructure, which was supported by the [[New Deal]]. This included the construction of numerous schools, city halls, post offices, parks, libraries, and fire stations, as well as the improvement of road infrastructure throughout Orange County.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Epting |first=Charles |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/944515265 |title=The New Deal in Orange County, California |date=2014 |isbn=978-1-62585-036-2 |location=Charleston, SC |pages=9–11 |oclc=944515265}}</ref> [[File:Sylvia Mendez.jpg|left|thumb|''[[Mendez v. Westminster]]'' (1947) overturned racial segregation in California schools. The case was initiated when [[Sylvia Mendez]] (pictured) was turned away from enrolling at a primary school in [[Westminster, California|Westminster]].]] [[School segregation in the United States|School segregation]] between Mexican and white students in Orange County was widespread in the mid-1940s, with 80% of Mexican students attending 14 segregated schools. These schools taught Mexican children manual education – or [[gardening]], [[bootmaking]], [[blacksmithing]], and [[carpentry]] for Mexican boys and sewing and homemaking for girls – while white schools taught academic preparation.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Gonzalez |first=Gilbert G. |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/843881943 |title=Chicano education in the era of segregation |date=2013 |isbn=978-1-57441-516-2 |location=Denton, Texas |pages=178–179 |oclc=843881943 |access-date=December 5, 2022 |archive-date=January 11, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230111080255/https://www.worldcat.org/title/843881943 |url-status=live}}</ref> The landmark case [[Mendez v. Westminster|Mendez vs. Westminster]] (1947) desegregated Orange County schools, after the Mendez family were denied enrollment into the [[17th Street School]] in [[Westminster, California|Westminster]] in 1944, despite their cousins with lighter skin being admitted, and were instead told to enroll at the [[Hoover Elementary School (Santa Ana, California)|Hoover Elementary School]] for Mexican children.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Gonzales |first=Leticia |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/1336005572 |title=The untold story of Sylvia Mendez : school desegregation pioneer |date=2023 |isbn=978-1-6690-0504-9 |location=North Mankato, Minnesota |pages=4 |oclc=1336005572 |access-date=December 5, 2022 |archive-date=January 11, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230111080300/https://www.worldcat.org/title/1336005572 |url-status=live}}</ref> In the 1950s, agriculture, such as that involving the [[boysenberries]] made famous by [[Buena Park]] native [[Walter Knott]], began to decline. However, the county's prosperity soared during this time. The completion of [[Interstate 5 in California|Interstate 5]] in 1954 helped make Orange County a [[bedroom community]] for many who moved to [[Southern California]] to work in [[aerospace]] and manufacturing.<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.ocregister.com/2011/03/10/santa-ana-neighborhood-was-african-american-hub/ |title=Santa Ana neighborhood was African American hub |last=Galvin |first=Andrew |date=March 10, 2011 |newspaper=[[Orange County Register]] |language=en-US |access-date=March 14, 2020 |archive-date=September 19, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200919031754/https://www.ocregister.com/2011/03/10/santa-ana-neighborhood-was-african-american-hub/ |url-status=live}}</ref> Orange County received a further economic boost in 1955 with the opening of [[Disneyland Park (Anaheim)|Disneyland]]. In 1969, [[Yorba Linda]]-born Orange County native [[Richard Nixon]] became the 37th [[President of the United States]]. He established a "[[Western White House]]" in [[San Clemente, California|San Clemente]], in South Orange County, known as [[La Casa Pacifica]], and visited throughout his presidency.<ref name="casa pacifica">{{cite news|url=https://www.ocregister.com/2010/07/23/western-white-house-opens-to-nixon-love/|title=Western White House Opens to Nixon Love |publisher=The Orange County Register |access-date=August 23, 2023 |date=July 23, 2010}}</ref> In the late 1970s, Vietnamese and Latino immigrants began to populate central Orange County.<ref>{{cite web |last=Do |first=Anh |date=May 24, 2016 |title=In Little Saigon, some Latinos are learning Vietnamese to get ahead |url=https://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-viet-latino-20160516-snap-story.html |access-date=February 8, 2022 |website=Los Angeles Times |language=en-US |quote=Vietnamese and Latinos, mostly of Mexican descent, began populating the starter tracts of Central Orange County in the late 1970s and early '80s—the Vietnamese fleeing the Communist government after the war and Latinos looking for better economic opportunities. Vietnamese at first settled largely in Westminster and Latinos in Santa Ana. |archive-date=January 18, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220118223641/https://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-viet-latino-20160516-snap-story.html |url-status=live}}</ref> In the 1980s, Orange County had become the second most populous county in California as the population topped two million for the first time. In the 1990s, [[red fox]]es became common in Orange County as a non-native [[mesopredator]], with increasing urban development pushing out coyote and mountain lion populations to the county's shrinking natural areas.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Cano |first=Debra |date=1993-09-07 |title=FOUNTAIN VALLEY : Well-Fed Red Foxes Like Living at Park |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1993-09-07-me-32551-story.html |access-date=2022-12-20 |website=Los Angeles Times |language=en-US |archive-date=December 20, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221220203353/https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1993-09-07-me-32551-story.html |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Parris |first=Kirsten M. |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/953859148 |title=Ecology of urban environments |date=2016 |isbn=978-1-119-24115-7 |location=Chichester, West Sussex |format=eBook |oclc=953859148 |publisher=Wiley Blackwell}}</ref> {{anchor|bankruptcy}}In 1994, an investment fund meltdown led to the criminal prosecution of treasurer [[Robert Citron]]. The county lost at least $1.5 billion through high-risk investments in bonds. The loss was blamed on [[derivative (finance)|derivatives]] by some media reports.<ref name="timebankrupt">{{cite magazine |title=Orange County Goes Bust |magazine=Time Magazine |date=December 19, 1994}}</ref> On December 6, 1994, the County of Orange declared [[Chapter 9, Title 11, United States Code|Chapter 9]] bankruptcy,<ref name="timebankrupt" /> from which it emerged on June 12, 1996.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.ppic.org/content/pubs/op/op_398op.pdf |title=When Government Fails: The Orange County Bankruptcy A Policy Summary |publisher=Public Policy Institute of California |access-date=September 29, 2014 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140617021603/http://www.ppic.org/content/pubs/op/OP_398OP.pdf |archive-date=June 17, 2014 |df=mdy-all}}</ref> The Orange County bankruptcy was at the time the largest municipal bankruptcy in U.S. history.<ref name="timebankrupt" /> Land use conflicts arose between established areas in the north and less developed areas in the south. These conflicts were over issues such as construction of new toll roads and the repurposing of a decommissioned air base. [[El Toro Marine Corps Air Station]] was designated by a voter measure in 1994 to be developed into an international airport to complement the existing [[John Wayne Airport]]. But subsequent voter initiatives and court actions caused the airport plan to be permanently shelved. It has developed into the [[Orange County Great Park]] and housing.<ref>[http://www.oac.cdlib.org/data/13030/jh/kt7d5nf2jh/files/kt7d5nf2jh.pdf Guide to the Collection on the Development of the El Toro Airport.] Online Archive of California. Retrieved on January 21, 2010.</ref> === 21st century === [[File:LagunaBeachCA photo D Ramey Logan.JPG|thumb|left|[[Laguna Beach, California|Laguna Beach]] in 2010 (with [[Newport Beach, California|Newport Beach]] in background)]]In the 21st century, the social landscape of Orange County has continued to change. The [[Opioid epidemic in the United States|opioid epidemic]] saw a rise in Orange County, with unintentional overdoses becoming the third highest contributor of deaths by 2014. As in other areas, the deaths disproportionately occurred in the [[Homelessness|homeless population]]. However, deaths were widespread among affluent and poorer areas in Orange County, with the highest at-risk group being Caucasian males between the ages of 45–55. A 2018 study found that supply reduction was not sufficient to preventing deaths.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Marshall |first1=John R. |last2=Gassner |first2=Stephen F. |last3=Anderson |first3=Craig L. |last4=Cooper |first4=Richelle J. |last5=Lotfipour |first5=Shahram |last6=Chakravarthy |first6=Bharath |date=2019-01-02 |title=Socioeconomic and geographical disparities in prescription and illicit opioid-related overdose deaths in Orange County, California, from 2010–2014 |journal=Substance Abuse |language=en |volume=40 |issue=1 |pages=80–86 |doi=10.1080/08897077.2018.1442899 |pmid=29465301 |s2cid=3389020 |issn=0889-7077 |doi-access=free }}</ref> In 2008, a report issued by the [[Orange County Superior Court]] found that the county was experiencing a pet "overpopulation problem," with the growing number of pets leading to an increase in [[euthanasia]]s at the Orange County Animal Shelter to 13,000 for the year alone.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Orange County |first=California Grand Jury |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1GaeVznKBVoC |title=Final Report |publisher=Orange County Superior Court |year=2008 |pages=190–194 |language=en |access-date=December 20, 2022 |archive-date=December 20, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221220203354/https://books.google.com/books?id=1GaeVznKBVoC |url-status=live}}</ref> Following the [[2016 United States presidential election|2016 presidential election]], Santa Ana become a [[sanctuary city]] for the protection of those immigrants who worked around the legally established process of becoming a legal resident in Orange and other California counties. This created an intense debate in Orange County surrounding politics toward unlawful immigration, with many cities opposing pro-immigration policies.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Nicholls |first1=Walter J. |last2=de Wilde |first2=Marieke |date=2023-01-01 |title=Contentious immigration politics in a multijurisdictional field: A case study of Orange County, California |url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0962629822001901 |journal=Political Geography |language=en |volume=100 |pages=102776 |doi=10.1016/j.polgeo.2022.102776 |s2cid=253663121 |issn=0962-6298}}</ref> The [[COVID-19 pandemic in California|COVID-19 pandemic in Orange County]] disproportionately affected lower income and Latino residents.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Bruckner |first1=Tim A. |last2=Parker |first2=Daniel M. |last3=Bartell |first3=Scott M. |last4=Vieira |first4=Veronica M. |last5=Khan |first5=Saahir |last6=Noymer |first6=Andrew |last7=Drum |first7=Emily |last8=Albala |first8=Bruce |last9=Zahn |first9=Matthew |last10=Boden-Albala |first10=Bernadette |date=2021-02-04 |title=Estimated seroprevalence of SARS-CoV-2 antibodies among adults in Orange County, California |journal=Scientific Reports |language=en |volume=11 |issue=1 |pages=3081 |doi=10.1038/s41598-021-82662-x |pmid=33542329 |pmc=7862219 |bibcode=2021NatSR..11.3081B |s2cid=222307655 |issn=2045-2322}}</ref> Implementation of [[renewable energy]] and [[climate change]] awareness in Orange County increased, with the city of Irvine pledging to be a [[zero-carbon]] economy by 2030 and [[Buena Park, California|Buena Park]], [[Huntington Beach, California|Huntington Beach]], and [[Fullerton, California|Fullerton]] pledging to move to 100% clean energy.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2022-02-02 |title=Clean electricity gains momentum in Orange County despite price hikes |url=https://www.ocregister.com/2022/02/02/clean-electricity-gains-momentum-in-orange-county-despite-price-hikes |access-date=2022-12-06 |website=Orange County Register |language=en-US |archive-date=December 6, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221206030736/https://www.ocregister.com/2022/02/02/clean-electricity-gains-momentum-in-orange-county-despite-price-hikes/ |url-status=live}}</ref> Residential solar panel installation has rapidly increased, even among middle-income families, as a result of the state's residential solar program which began in 2006. In the 2010s, campaigns to conserve remaining natural areas gained awareness.<ref name=":5">{{Cite web |last=Robert |first=Anthony |date=2022-01-30 |title=Community celebrates purchase of 24 acres of west Coyote Hills - |url=https://fullertonobserver.com/2022/01/30/community-celebrates-purchase-of-24-acres-of-west-coyote-hills/ |access-date=2022-12-06 |website=fullertonobserver.com |language=en-US |archive-date=December 6, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221206030731/https://fullertonobserver.com/2022/01/30/community-celebrates-purchase-of-24-acres-of-west-coyote-hills/ |url-status=live}}</ref><ref name=":3">{{Cite web |last=Hicks |first=Angelina |date=2022-06-14 |title=Banning Ranch is One Step Closer to Becoming Preserved Open Space |url=http://voiceofoc.org/2022/06/banning-ranch-is-one-step-closer-to-becoming-preserved-open-space/ |access-date=2022-12-06 |website=Voice of OC |language=en-US |archive-date=December 6, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221206225206/https://voiceofoc.org/2022/06/banning-ranch-is-one-step-closer-to-becoming-preserved-open-space/ |url-status=live}}</ref> By the early 2020s, some success was found, with the conservation of 24 acres in the [[West Coyote Hills]] of a total 510 acres and the Genga/Banning Ranch project moving forward, conserving some 385 acres, which was part of the [[Tongva]] village area of [[Genga, California|Genga]].<ref name=":5" /><ref name=":3" /><ref>{{Cite web |date=2022-05-26 |title=Purchase of Banning Ranch for preserved natural space is fully funded |url=https://www.ocregister.com/2022/05/26/purchase-of-banning-ranch-for-preserved-natural-space-is-fully-funded |access-date=2022-12-11 |website=Orange County Register |language=en-US |archive-date=December 11, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221211201235/https://www.ocregister.com/2022/05/26/purchase-of-banning-ranch-for-preserved-natural-space-is-fully-funded/ |url-status=live}}</ref> In 2021, the commemorative 1.5 acre [[Putiidhem|Putuidem]] village opened after years of delays and campaigning by the [[Acjachemen]].<ref>{{Cite web |date=2021-12-04 |title=Putuidem Village recognizing San Juan Capistrano's first people opens after years of delay |url=https://www.ocregister.com/2021/12/03/putuidem-village-recognizing-san-juan-capistranos-first-people-opens-after-years-of-delay |access-date=2022-12-11 |website=Orange County Register |language=en-US |archive-date=December 11, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221211201517/https://www.ocregister.com/2021/12/03/putuidem-village-recognizing-san-juan-capistranos-first-people-opens-after-years-of-delay/ |url-status=live}}</ref> Summary: Please note that all contributions to Christianpedia may be edited, altered, or removed by other contributors. 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