The City of Orange (often referred to as "Plaza City") is located in Orange County, California. It is approximately 3 miles (6 kilometers) north of the County seat in Santa Ana, California, and approximately 32 miles (52 kilometers) southeast of Los Angeles.
The Current OMB metropolitan designation for Orange and the Orange County Area is "Santa Ana-Anaheim-Irvine, CA."
Orange is located at 33°47'16" North, 117°51'00" West (33.802945, -117.832506).
The City has a total area of 27.0 mi2 (69.9 km2), 23.1 mi2 (59.9 km2) of which is land and 0.5 mi2 (1.3 km2) of which is water. The total area is 1.9% water.
As of the census of 2000, there were 128,821 people, 40,930 households, and 30,165 families residing in the City. The population density is 2,126.5/km2 (5,506.4/mi2). There were 41,904 housing units at an average density of 691.7/km2 (1,791.2/mi2).
The racial makeup of the City is 56.6% White, Non-Hispanic, 1.60% African American, 0.78% Native American, 9.32% Asian, 0.23% Pacific Islander, 13.82% from other races, and 3.75% from two or more races. 32.16% of the population are Hispanic or Latino of any race.
There are 40,930 households out of which 37.1% have children under the age of 18 living with them, 57.1% are married couples living together, 11.6% have a female householder with no husband present, and 26.3% are non-families. 19.5% of all households are made up of individuals and 6.6% have someone living alone who is 65 years of age or older. The average household size is 3.02 and the average family size is 3.43.
The population is spread out with 26.7% under the age of 18, 9.9% from 18 to 24, 33.3% from 25 to 44, 20.5% from 45 to 64, and 9.6% who are 65 years of age or older. The median age is 33 years. For every 100 females there are 100.8 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there are 98.7 males.
The median income for a household in the City is $58,994, and the median income for a family is $64,573. Males have a median income of $42,144 versus $34,159 for females. The per capita income for the City is $24,294. 10.0% of the population and 6.8% of families are below the poverty line. Out of the total population, 12.5% of those under the age of 18 and 7.5% of those 65 and older are living below the poverty line.
The original inhabitants of the region that now comprises the City of Orange, California were Native American peoples, known as Gabrielinos to the local Spanish settlers. In 1801, Don Juan Pablo Grijalva, a retired Spanish soldier and the area's first landowner, he was granted permission by the Spanish colonial government to establish a rancho in "the place of the Arroyo de Santiago." California was ceded to the United States by Mxico with the signing of the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo in 1848, and though many settlers lost titles to their lands in the aftermath, Grijalva's descendants retained ownership of his vast holdings.
In 1869, Los Angeles attorneys Alfred Chapman and Andrew Glassell received as payment for legal services 1,385 acres (6 km2) of land from Rancho Santiago de Santa Ana, which they quickly subdivided into a one-square-mile town with numerous ten acre (40,000 m2) farm lots surrounding it. Originally the community was named Richland, but when the town's application for a post office was denied in 1873 due to the fact that there was already a Richland in Sacramento County, the residents chose the name Orange, perhaps in deference to the Virginia county birthplace of one of the founders.
The small town was developed around a central Plaza in the form of a traffic circle (or "roundabout") which remains to this day, and was incorporated on April 6, 1888 under the general laws of the State of California. According to company records, Orange was the first developed town site to be served by the Southern California Railway when its transcontinental rail line (the nation's second) reached Orange County.
The town experienced its first growth spurt during the last decade of the 19th century (as did many of the surrounding communities), thanks to ever-increasing demands for California-grown citrus fruits, a period some refer to as the "Orange Era." Southern California's real estate "boom" of 1886-1888, fueled by railroad rate wars, also contributed to a marked increase in population. Like most cities in Orange County, California, growth thereafter was slow and steady until the 1950s, when a second real estate boom spurred development. Motivated by the development of a region-wide freeway system which connected Los Angeles' urban center with outerlying areas like Orange, large tracts of housing were developed from the 1950s to the early 1970s, and continues today, albeit at a much slower pace, at the eastern edge of the City.
According to State Historic Resource Surveys, Orange is unique among the region and the state in that it has the second largest concentration of historic buildings. A list of all of the buildings and sites in Orange that appear in the National Register of Historic Places can be found at , , and .
Source:
OrangeCA.com
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