A report on Orange County, California, Southern California and Santa Ana, California

Laguna Beach (with Newport beach in background).

Sunset in Venice, a neighborhood in Los Angeles

Don Bernardo Yorba, a prominent Californio ranchero, owned all of Santa Ana and served as its alcalde (mayor).

Los Angeles County before the secession of Orange County in 1889

José Andrés Sepúlveda, a famed Californio vaquero, purchased most Rancho Santiago de Santa Ana, but lost his land claim after the U.S. Conquest of California.

A billboard for Nixon's Restaurant in Orange County, circa 1955

California counties below the 36th standard parallel

The original Mission Revival style Santa Ana Public Library, built 1901-05.

One of the few remaining farms near the ocean, 1975. Photo by Charles O'Rear.

Three Arch Bay in Laguna Beach, Southern Orange County

Percent of households with incomes above $150k across LA County census tracts.

The Spanish Revival style Lathrop Jr. High School, demolished 1970.

View of Newport Center and the Santa Ana Mountains from Newport Harbor

Köppen climate types of southern California

Aerial view of an edge city: Irvine Business Complex (top), John Wayne Airport runway (upper center), South Coast Metro buildings (lower center) and below, the South Coast Plaza mall

Huntington Beach and Fountain Valley from over Costa Mesa

The historic California Churrigueresque style Santora Building.

Major facilities in the Anaheim–Santa Ana edge city, plus the locations of the adjacent downtowns

Satellite view of southern California, including the Channel Islands

Orange County Density Map. Darker shades indicate more densely populated areas.

Peaks in the eastern San Gabriel Mountains, Angeles National Forest, San Bernardino County.

The developing urban core in the City of Irvine.

Yucca Valley with Visitor Center in Background in June 2017.

State Route 1 winds down the coast over Corona Del Mar State Beach

Anaheim Regional Transportation Intermodal Center (ARTIC)

Santa Ana Regional Transportation Center

The Oceanside Pier on the San Diego County coast

1965 aerial photo of Anaheim Disneyland, Disneyland Hotel with its Monorail Station. The Disneyland Heliport, surrounding orange groves, Santa Ana Freeway (now I-5) and the Melodyland Theater "in the round," and part of the City of Anaheim. Anaheim Stadium can be seen under construction near the upper left.

Street banners promoting the county's two major league teams, the Ducks and the Angels.

Interstate and state highway system of Southern California

The Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway's combined Super Chief-El Capitan pulls into Los Angeles's Union Passenger Terminal on September 24, 1966.

The Santa Ana Regional Transportation Center was built in 1985.

Blooming Roses at Huntington Library in San Marino, Los Angeles County, April 2022

Orange County is located in the Los Angeles metropolitan area in Southern California.

- Orange County, California

Santa Ana is a city and the county seat of Orange County, California.

- Santa Ana, California

Located in the Greater Los Angeles region of Southern California, the city's population was 310,227 at the 2020 Census, making Santa Ana the 13th-most populous city in California and the 4th densest large city in the United States (behind only New York City, San Francisco, and Boston).

- Santa Ana, California

The region generally contains ten of California's 58 counties: Imperial, Kern, Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino, San Diego, Santa Barbara, San Luis Obispo and Ventura counties.

- Southern California

The county's three most populous cities are Anaheim, Santa Ana, and Irvine, each of which has a population exceeding 300,000.

- Orange County, California

714 – Northern Orange County (including Anaheim, Santa Ana, and Huntington Beach)

- Southern California

4 related topics with Alpha

Greater Los Angeles

2 links

Greater Los Angeles in yellow and peach; urbanized areas in gray; Los Angeles proper lined in blue; Los Angeles metropolitan area lined in red.

Many areas are completely filled with houses, buildings, roads, and freeways as observed in Vermont Vista, a Los Angeles neighborhood.

Aerial view of Newport Beach in Orange County

Sleeping Beauty Castle at Disneyland Park

Laguna Beach coastline is popular for sunbathers

Warner Brothers Studios in the San Fernando Valley

Cal State LA's The Golden Eagle, consisting of two adjoining structures separated by a promenade.

Rush hour on the Harbor Freeway, Downtown

UCLA–USC rivalry, both universities are located in Los Angeles and are members of the Pac-12 Conference. The rivalry between the two is among the more unusual in National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I sports, because the campuses are only 12 miles (19 km) apart, and both are located within the same megacity.

Greater Los Angeles is the second-largest metropolitan region in the United States with a population of 18.5 million as of 2021, encompassing five counties in southern California extending from Ventura County in the west to San Bernardino County and Riverside County in the east, with Los Angeles County in the center and Orange County to the southeast.

Orange County is sometimes figuratively divided into "North County" and "South County", with North Orange County including cities such as Anaheim, Fullerton, and Santa Ana, and is the older, more ethnically diverse and more densely built-up area closer to Los Angeles.

John Wayne Airport

1 links

Orange County Airport terminal, circa 1967

AirCal MD-80 jet at John Wayne Airport, 1981

The bronze statue of John Wayne in the airport's main lobby, 2009

The shorter runway 20L at SNA, circa 2014

Private jets on the apron at John Wayne Airport at Atlantic Aviation

John Wayne Airport is a commercial and general aviation airport that serves Orange County, California, and the Greater Los Angeles area.

John Wayne Airport is surrounded by the cities of Irvine, Newport Beach, and Costa Mesa, although its IATA airport code and mailing address are both registered to Santa Ana, the county seat.

The area around John Wayne Airport has a warm-summer Mediterranean climate (Csb) characteristic of coastal Southern California.

Long Beach, California

1 links

City in Los Angeles County, California.

Don Juan Temple purchased Rancho Los Cerritos, covering modern-day Long Beach, in 1843.

In 1844, Juan Temple built the Casa de los Cerritos, the oldest building in Long Beach, in a Monterey Colonial style.

The First National Bank of Long Beach at the turn of the century

Worker in the Douglas Aircraft Company plant, Long Beach, 1942. Photo by Alfred T. Palmer.

C-47 transport planes being built in the Douglas Aircraft Company plant in Long Beach during World War II

Downtown, Shoreline Marina, and the Port of Long Beach, 2010

Neighborhood map of the City of Long Beach

View from Signal Hill to Villa Riviera and port cranes (c. 2009)

Map of racial distribution in Long Beach, 2010 U.S. Census. Each dot is 25 people:

View of downtown from the Queen Mary at night

Two young men at the Long Beach Lesbian and Gay Pride Parade and Festival in 2015.

Bluff Park, and the Shoreline Pedestrian Bikepath and Belmont Veterans Memorial Pier

Walking trail in the El Dorado Nature Center

2005 Grand Prix of Long Beach, showing turn 10 and the Long Beach skyline

Long Beach Marine Stadium, created to host the rowing events for the 1932 Summer Olympics

Waves at Long Beach and the Bixby Hotel under construction, circa 1906

Veterans Memorial Stadium, home to the Long Beach City College football team

Long Beach Civic Center, designed by Skidmore, Owings & Merrill and completed in 2019

The Long Beach Naval Shipyard and the USS David R. Ray, Tarawa, and Essex in 1993. In the background is the original Gerald Desmond Bridge.

The Walter Pyramid at California State University, Long Beach

Northwest-facing view of the harbor and port at dusk

A Metro Blue Line train arrives at the Downtown Long Beach Station (the service was renamed to the A Line in 2019 and the station renamed to Transit Mall Station in July 2013).

Long Beach Airport with Mount San Antonio and Timber Mountain in the background

Incorporated in 1897, Long Beach lies in Southern California in the southern part of Los Angeles County.

Orange County Transportation Authority offers limited bus service to Orange County.

John Wayne Airport in Santa Ana is another alternative to the airport.

Santa Ana River

0 links

Mill Creek (pictured) is one of the main headwaters tributaries of the Santa Ana River.

The channeled mouth of the Santa Ana River between Huntington Beach and Newport Beach

The Transverse Ranges were formed by uplift along the San Andreas Fault. Santa Ana Canyon is between the first and second ridges and Big Bear Lake is in the background.

This segment of the Santa Ana River just downstream of Seven Oaks Dam marks the beginning of the inland riparian zone

Bernardo Yorba Adobe was built by Mexican settlers in Rancho Cañón de Santa Ana in 1835

The Santa Ana River flooding in 1938, just downstream of Santa Ana Canyon. This view, taken by a Los Angeles Times photographer from a United Air Lines "Mainliner", shows flooded agricultural fields in central Orange County, with the Pacific Ocean in the distance.

Army Corps of Engineers map of the 100-year floodplain of the Santa Ana River

The Prado Flood Control Basin on the Santa Ana River has one of the largest remaining riparian zones along the main stem.

The Orangewood Avenue bridge near Angel Stadium of Anaheim

The Santa Ana River is the largest river entirely within Southern California in the United States.

It rises in the San Bernardino Mountains and flows for most of its length through San Bernardino and Riverside Counties, before cutting through the northern Santa Ana Mountains via Santa Ana Canyon and flowing southwest through urban Orange County to drain into the Pacific Ocean.

Many cities established during this time including Santa Ana, Riverside and Anaheim derived their names from the river.