Fullerton, California
Fullerton is a
city located in northern
Orange County,
California,
USA. As of the 2000 census, the city had a total population of 126,003.
It was founded in
1887 by George and Edward Amerige and named for George H. Fullerton, who secured the land on behalf of the
Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway. Historically it was a center of
agriculture, notably groves of Valencia
oranges and other
citrus crops;
petroleum extraction; transportation; and manufacturing. It is home to several educational institutions, notably the
California State University, Fullerton (CSUF).
This section is drawn substantially from Oranges and Oil, by Fullerton HeritageEvidence of prehistoric habitation is present in
Ralph B. Clark Regional Park in the northwest of the city.
Europeans first passed through the area in
1769 when
Gaspar de Portolà led an expedition north to establish
Mission San Gabriel Arcangel, after whom the local
Native American population were dubbed the
Gabrieliños. The land later became part of Rancho San Juan Cajon de Santa Ana, granted to Juan Pacifico Ontiveros, a
Spanish soldier.
Ontiveros began to sell parcels of the Rancho to settlers flooding California in the aftermath of the
1849 Gold Rush, including
Massachusetts native Abel Stearns. In the
1860s, Stearns sold in turn to Domingo Bastanchury, a
Basque shepherd.
In
1886 while in the area on a duck
hunting vacation,
Malden brothers George and Edward Amerige, heard rumors that the
California Central Railroad, a subsidiary of the
Santa Fe Railway, was looking for land. Sensing opportunity, they arranged to buy 430 acres (1.7 km²) north of
Anaheim for approximately $68,000.
They then began negotiations with George H. Fullerton, president of the Pacific Land and Improvement Company, also a Santa Fe subsidiary. They offered free right-of-way and half interest in the land to the railroad if Fullerton's survey were revised to include the proposed town site, and on
July 5,
1887 Edward Amerige formally staked his claim at what is now the intersection of Harbor Boulevard and Commonwealth Avenue.
In
1894 Charles Chapman, a retired
Chicago publisher and a descendant of John "
Johnny Appleseed" Chapman, purchased an
orange orchard in eastern Fullerton. The Valencia variety of oranges he promoted from his Santa Ysabel Ranch, well suited to the local climate, proved a boon to producers; Fullerton boasted more orange groves than any other municipality in the
United States. Cultivation of
walnuts and
avocados also flourished, and the Western railroad town became an agricultural center.
In
1904, Fullerton incorporated.
In
1913, community college
Fullerton College was established at its present location at Chapman Avenue and Lemon Street.
In
1924 law established banning overnight parking in all of city. Still in force.
Drilling for
petroleum also began in the late
1800s and fueled the first real boom, peaking in the
1920s. Construction reflected the vogue for Spanish Colonial and
Italian Renaissance-inspired architecture, as in the historic
Fox Fullerton Theatre (erected
1925); the home of Walter and Adella Muckenthaler, designed by
Frank Benchley (erected
1924); and the city's chief landmark, the Plummer Auditorium and clock tower (erected
1930).
Significant public works projects were constructed during this period, including the conversion of a southwestern sewer farm into
Fullerton Municipal Airport at the behest of
Placentia ranchers and aviators William and Robert Dowling in
1927.
In
1932,
Val Vita Food Products (later
Hunt Wesson and today part of
ConAgra Foods, Inc.) began operating a citrus juice plant in western Fullerton. By
1941 it had become the largest
food processing company in the US.1930s-
Hawaiian Punch created in a Fullerton garage.Through the mid-
1900s the economy shifted toward manufacturing; southeastern Fullerton became an industrial center and the city became a producer not only of canned foods, but also of aerospace equipment, electrical and electronic components, navigation systems, and laboratory instruments.
In
1949 Dick Riedel and Bill Barris piloted the
Sunkist Lady, a modified
Aeronca 11 Chief, out of the Fullerton airport to set an endurance flight record of 1,008 hours and 2 minutes. This record remained unbroken until the
Voyager journey in
1986.
Fullerton's population soared after
World War II as veterans migrated to
California, and in particular after the construction of
Interstate 5 and development in neighboring
Anaheim.
In
1957, the
California State Legislature authorized Orange County State College, which began operating out of Fullerton high schools in
1959. In
1963, it moved to its present campus on State College Boulevard and was redesignated California State College at Fullerton. Other institutions followed, earning Fullerton a reputation as an "Education City."
In
1965, Harold Muckenthaler donated his family home to the city for use as a cultural center.
In
1979, the Fullerton Arboretum, a 26-acre (105,000 m²)
botanical garden, opened in the northeastern part of the city.
Manufacturing growth leveled off as ever-soaring property prices, increasing environmental regulation, traffic, and other pressures increased. By the late
20th century the city had lost much of its rural character in favor of
suburban housing tracts and shopping centers.
Recent history
The first years of the 21st century have seen several political issues played out against a backdrop of class division (between the more affluent northern and western parts of the city and the southern portion of the city, which borders Anaheim), rapidly diminishing supplies of undeveloped land, and demographic changes (including the influx of Asian and Latino immigrants into an area previously dominated by Caucasians).
As in many cities, growth and development are contentious issues. In the 1990s, the downtown commercial district had become economically depressed, and was known mainly for being an area of sleepy antique stores and small shops.A symbol of downtown's problems was the
Fox Theatre, a local landmark, which had fallen into disrepair. As of November 2004, a fundraising drive had accumulated sufficient funds to buy the theater, but not yet enough money to restore it. By 2006, restoration was started.During this same period, the downtown area, especially south of Commonwealth Avenue, has become more of a busy entertainment district, described by the OC Weekly as Bourbon Street West. In less than five years, some 30 businesses that sell alcohol have opened, making the downtown area much more active at night. With the festive atmosphere have come problems such as public drunkenness, fights and a shortage of parking; a police task force last year has addressed some of these problems.
There is a proposal to develop the Coyote Hills area, the last undeveloped area in the city. This controversial issue has pitted local environmentalists and slow-growth activists (who argue that the city should seek state funding to buy the area and make into a park) against the pro-business and pro-growth City Council. There are also plans to build approximately 300 condominiums or apartments downtown, leading to more density.
The 293-acre
Hughes Ground Systems campus in western Fullerton was redeveloped into a major new residential and commercial district, called
Amerige Heights, in 2001â€"2004. This development was accompanied by extreme shifts in neighborhood property values, first dropping precipitously in the late 1980s to early 1990s as the former Hughes employees sold their houses, and then rising rapidly as part of a general increase in real estate values throughout Orange County.
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Keith Van Horn, NBA player on the Dallas Mavericks. Formerly played for New York, New Jersey, Philadelphia, and Milwaukee.
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Phil Nevin, MLB player on the Chicago Cubs. Formerly played for Texas, San Diego, Anaheim, Detroit, and Houston.
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Gwen Stefani, lead singer of No Doubt and solo recording artist.
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Tudor Cora, Nobel Prize winning scientist, for his discovery of the origins of cheese.
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Jenna Haze, Pornographic actress, Won AVN Award Best New Starlet in 2003.
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Eric Wynalda, All-time leading scorer for the U.S. Soccer National Team
Fullerton is located at (33.879914, -117.928749). It is approximately 25 miles (40 km) southeast of downtown
Los Angeles, and approximately 11 miles (18 km) north-northwest of
Santa Ana, the
county seat. The city has a mean elevation of 150 feet (46 m) and lies approximately 11 miles northeast of the Pacific Ocean straight-line distance. It has a Mediterranean climate, with a mean temperature of 62.2 degrees Fahrenheit (16.8 °C).
According to the
United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 57.6
km² (22.2
mi²). 57.5 km² (22.2 mi²) of it is land and 0.1 km² (0.04 mi²) of it (0.14%) is water.
The flat downtown area is laid out in a
grid plan centered at the intersection of Harbor Boulevard and Commonwealth Avenue. After recent renewal and beautification projects, it has attracted specialty stores, coffee shops, and restaurants, and has uncharacteristically retained much of its
downtown character. Southeastern Fullerton is historically the industrial sector, and is home to small manufacturing, particularly east of Raymond Street and south of Commonwealth.
The hilly northern and western parts of Fullerton were for most of its history groves of citrus trees, open
scrubland, and oil fields. While equestrian trails and many old estates endure along Bastanchury Road, the meandering roads through these areas today mostly connect a succession of housing tract subdivisions and commercial developments. North-central and northwestern Fullerton is broadly referred to as Coyote Hills, while the name Sunny Hills refers to the adjacent lands to the south and west. In recent years, the Fullerton City Council has tried to develop all the remaining open land throughout the city. The most notable impending project, in West Coyote Hills, has been met with high opposition by many of the citizens in the area. West Coyote Hills is in the far northwest of the city, and borders the cities of
La Mirada and
La Habra.
Fullerton is a general law city with a
council-manager government system. Legislative authority is vested in a City Council of five non-partisan members who serve four-year staggered terms, who elect a chair who serves as mayor but hire a professional city manager for day-to-day operations. All Council seats are elected at large. Elections are held every two years and are consolidated with the statewide general elections held in November of even numbered years.
As of July
2004 there were 60,927 registered voters in the city:
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Republican Party - 29,146
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Democratic Party - 19,146
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Decline to state - 9,850
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American Independent Party - 1,098
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Libertarian Party - 507
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Green Party- 480
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Peace and Freedom Party - 242
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Natural Law Party - 137
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Miscellaneous - 321
Fullerton has historically favored conservative Republican in state and federal elections, sending native
William E. Dannemeyer to seven terms in the
United States House of Representatives.
California State University, Fullerton, commonly
Cal State Fullerton or
CSUF was first established in
1957 as Orange County State College. The twelfth member of the
California State University system, its main campus is located on 236 acres (1 km²) of a former orange grove in northeast Fullerton near
California State Route 57 and Nutwood Avenue; there are six branch campuses. In the spring quarter of
2004, 32,592 students were enrolled in 104 undergraduate and graduate degree programs. CSUF primarily serves
commuter students.
Fullerton College is a two-year
community college, the oldest in continuous operation in
California. Part of the
North Orange County Community College District, it is situated on a 63 acre (255,000 m²) campus adjacent to Fullerton Union High School.
Other institutions of
higher education in Fullerton include
Western State University College of Law,
Hope International University, and
Southern California College of Optometry.
The city also prides itself on its public schools, including Fullerton Union High School, the oldest and first high school in the Fullerton School District and home of historic Plummer Auditorium and science magnet school
Troy High School.
Fullerton is home to a vibrant music scene. It was a center for the
Orange County hardcore punk music scene, producing acts such as
The Adolescents,
Agent Orange,
Social Distortion, and
TSOL.
Gwen Stefani, lead vocalist of the
alternative rock group
No Doubt, was a student at CSUF and the group performed there regularly. Other popular groups from the area include
The Offspring and
Lit.
Contributing greatly to Fullerton's musical heritage was the
Fender musical instrument company, whose products such as the
Stratocaster and
Telecaster electric guitars,
Precision Bass bass guitar, and Twin Reverb
guitar amplifier revolutionized the music business and contributed greatly to the development of
rock and roll. (A list of notable rock performers who did
not use a Fender product at some point in their careers would be very short.)
Leo Fender sold the company to
CBS in 1964; production continued in the Fullerton plant until 1985, when the then-ruined company was sold to a group of private investors. (It was later reconstituted as Fender Musical Instrument Corporation, with its major production facilities in neighboring
Corona and across the
US-Mexico border in
Ensenada, Baja California, and its headquarters in
Scottsdale,
Arizona.) In 1980, Leo Fender and his original partner
George Fullerton (relation to the Fullerton founder of the same name unknown) reunited and started a new company,
G&L (George and Leo) Guitars, which currently occupies the old Fender factory in Fullerton.
The
Muckenthaler Cultural Center on Malvern Avenue near Euclid Avenue houses a museum, art galleries, two symphony orchestras, and a theater group.
The
Fullerton Museum Center is a multidisciplinary exhibit space housed in the old
Carnegie Library
downtown.
Fullerton is also home to a diverse and ever-growing theatre scene. The
Fullerton Civic Light Opera, one of the largest theatre companies in
Southern California, is based at the Plummer Auditorium. Local educational institutions, such as
Fullerton College and Fullerton High School, are the source of numerous large-scale production. Fullerton also houses several independent theatre groups, such as Stages Entertainment.
Fullerton maintains 45 city parks and is home to the
Craig Regional Park and
Ralph B. Clark Regional Park. The
Fullerton Arboretum comprises 26 acres (105,000 m²) of sculpted gardens and unusual plants in northeastern Fullerton. Additionally the city features approximately 200 acres (0.8 km²) of recreational land in the Brea Dam Recreational Area, plus an equestrian center and trails, two golf courses, and the
Janet Evans Swim Complex.
As of the
census of 2000, there were 126,003 people, 43,609 households, and 29,610 families residing in the city. The
population density was 2,191.4/km² (5,675.9/mi²). There were 44,771 housing units at an average density of 778.7/km² (2,016.7/mi²). The racial makeup of the city was 61.89%
White, 2.27%
Black or
African American, 0.69%
Native American, 16.08%
Asian, 0.23%
Pacific Islander, 14.81% from
other races, and 4.03% from two or more races. 30.17% of the population is
Hispanic or
Latino of any race.
There were 43,609 households out of which 33.0% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 51.8% were
married couples living together, 11.0% had a female householder with no husband present, and 32.1% were non-families. 23.5% of all households were made up of individuals and 7.3% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.83 and the average family size was 3.37.
In the city the population was spread out with 25.1% under the age of 18, 11.5% from 18 to 24, 32.3% from 25 to 44, 19.8% from 45 to 64, and 11.3% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 33 years. For every 100 females there were 97.7 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 96.1 males.
The median income for a household in the city was $50,269, and the median income for a family was $57,345. Males had a median income of $40,674 versus $31,677 for females. The
per capita income for the city was $23,370. About 8.0% of families and 11.4% of the population were below the
poverty line, including 13.6% of those under age 18 and 5.4% of those age 65 or over.
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2000 Census profile of FullertonFullerton owes its existence to the
railroad; the city is still bisected by the
BNSF Railway, upon whose tracks
Amtrak intercity and
Metrolink commuter rail services run.
The Fullerton Train Station is located downtown at the
Fullerton Transportation Center, which also serves as a major bus depot for the
Orange County Transportation Authority (OCTA).
Fullerton is crossed by three major
freeways.
California State Route 91, the
Riverside Freeway, runs east-to-west down the length of the city south of Orangethorpe Avenue. It intersects with
Interstate 5, the
Santa Ana Freeway, in the west near Magnolia Avenue and with
California State Route 57, the
Orange Freeway, in the east near State College Boulevard.
Fullerton Municipal Airport, the only general aviation airport remaining in
Orange County, located in the southwest of the city, is the last remnant of the Hughes Company in the area, which was prominent in the aerospace industry up until the 1970's.
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City of Fullerton Official Web Site*
Fullerton Chamber of Commerce*
Fullerton Heritage*
California State University, Fullerton*
Cal State Fullerton Titans Athletics*
Fullerton College*
Save Fox Theater! Although currently in poor condition, the Italian Renaissance-inspired building has been a key element of Fullerton's downtown for over 75 years, and in 1990, the City of Fullerton declared it Historic Landmark Number 35.
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Fullerton Train Depot The City of Fullerton was started as a station for the Santa Fe Railroad.
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Fullerton Railroad Days free family-oriented festival held first weekend in May.
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The Fullerton Flyers The Fullerton Flyers arrive in town as the first ever professional team to call Fullerton its home.
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Stages Entertainment Stages Entertainment, an independent theatre company around since 1993, is located near downtown and has contributed to the regrowth of the area.
