Remembering Orange County

Perpetual sunshine, palm trees, miles of unbroken beaches, yachts, cliff-top mansions, millionaires—these are the images of Orange County that come to mind for many people, and there is much truth in this depiction, for Orange County is a place of boundless natural wonders that attracts more than 25 million tourists a year. However, the full story of Orange County is far more complex. It&;s a story of conquistadors, wildcatters, farmers, veterans of great wars, builders, artists, and filmmakers. With a selection of fine historic images from her best-selling book Historic Photos of Orange County, Leslie Anne Stone provides a valuable and revealing historical retrospective on the growth and development of Orange County. Remembering Orange County offers more than 125 images drawn from the county&;s fascinating past, from the mission ruins of San Juan Capistrano, to the turn-of-the-century celery fields of Westminster, to the eye-popping fantasia of a young Disneyland. By East Coast standards, Orange County is an infant—just over a century old—and tiny compared with most California counties; but its population is second only to neighboring Los Angeles County and growing every day. This volume captures the story of Orange County&;s evolution from a sleepy backwater suburb of Los Angeles to an international tourist destination.