Anaheim, California, United States

🇺🇸 Anaheim is a city in Orange County, California, part of the Los Angeles metropolitan area. It is the most populous city in Orange County. Anaheim is known for being the home of the Disneyland Resort, the Anaheim Convention Center, and two major sports teams: the Anaheim Ducks ice hockey club and the Los Angeles Angels baseball team.

Anaheim remained largely an agricultural community until Disneyland opened in 1955. This led to the construction of several hotels and motels around the area, and residential districts in Anaheim soon followed. The city also developed into an industrial centre, producing electronics, aircraft parts and canned fruit. Anaheim is a charter city.

Anaheim's city limits extend almost the full width of Orange County, from Cypress in the west, twenty miles east to the Riverside County line, encompassing a diverse range of neighbourhoods. In the west, mid 20th century tract houses predominate. Downtown Anaheim has three mixed-use historic districts, the largest of which is the Anaheim Colony. South of downtown, a centre of commercial activity of regional importance begins, the Anaheim–Santa Ana edge city, which stretches east and south into the cities of Orange, Santa Ana and Garden Grove. This edge city includes the Disneyland Resort, with two theme parks, multiple hotels, and its retail district; Disney is part of the larger Anaheim Resort district with numerous other hotels and retail complexes. The Platinum Triangle, a neo-urban redevelopment district surrounding Angel Stadium, which is planned to be populated with mixed-use streets and high-rises. Further east, Anaheim Canyon is an industrial district north of the Riverside Freeway and east of the Orange Freeway. The city's eastern third consists of Anaheim Hills, a community built to a master plan, and open land east of the Route 241 tollway.

History Tongva people are indigenous to Anaheim's region of Southern California. Evidence suggests their presence since 3500 BCE. The Tongva village at Anaheim was called Hutuukuga. The village has been noted as one of the largest Tongva villages throughout Tovaangar. Native plants like oak trees and sage bushes were an important food source, as well as rabbit and mule deer for meat. The village had deep trade connections with coastal villages and those further inland.

Spanish and Mexican era The area that makes up modern-day Anaheim, along with Placentia and Fullerton, were part of the Rancho San Juan Cajón de Santa Ana, a Mexican-era rancho grant, given to Juan Pacífico Ontiveros in 1837 by Juan Bautista Alvarado, then Governor of Alta California. Following the American Conquest of California, the rancho was patented to Ontiveros by Public Land Commission. In 1857, Ontiveros sold 1,160 acres (out of his more than 35,000 acre estate) to 50 German-American families for the founding of Anaheim.

Founding The city of Anaheim was founded in 1857 by 50 German-Americans who were residents of San Francisco and whose families had originated in Rothenburg ob der Tauber, Franconia in Bavaria. After traveling through the state looking for a suitable area to grow grapes, the group decided to purchase a 1,165 acres (4.71 km²) parcel from Juan Pacífico Ontiveros' large Rancho San Juan Cajón de Santa Ana in present-day Orange County for $2 per acre.

For $750 a share, the group formed the Anaheim Vineyard Company headed by George Hansen. Their new community was named Annaheim, meaning "home by the Santa Ana River" in German. The name later was altered to Anaheim. To the Spanish-speaking neighbors, the settlement was known as Campo Alemán (English: German Field).

Although grape and wine-making was their primary objective, the majority of the 50 settlers were mechanics, carpenters and craftsmen with no experience in wine-making. The community set aside 40 acres (16 ha) for a town centre and a school was the first building erected there. The first home was built in 1857, the Anaheim Gazette newspaper was established in 1870 and a hotel in 1871. The census of 1870 reported a population of 565 for the Anaheim district. For 25 years, the area was the largest wine producer in California. However, in 1884, a disease infected the grape vines and by the following year the entire industry was destroyed. Other crops – walnuts, lemons and oranges – soon filled the void. Fruits and vegetables had become viable cash crops when the Los Angeles – Orange County region was connected to the continental railroad network in 1887.

Helena Modjeska

Polish actress Helena Modjeska settled in Anaheim with her husband and various friends, among them Henryk Sienkiewicz, Julian Sypniewski and Łucjan Paprocki. While living in Anaheim, Helena Modjeska became good friends with Clementine Langenberger, the second wife of August Langenberger. Helena Street and Clementine Street are named after these two ladies, and the streets are located adjacent to each other as a symbol of the strong friendship which Helena Modjeska and Clementine Lagenberger shared. Modjeska Park in West Anaheim, is also named after Helena Modjeska.

Early 20th century During the first half of the 20th century, Anaheim was a massive rural community dominated by orange groves and the landowners who farmed them. One of the landowners was Bennett Payne Baxter, who owned much land in north-east Anaheim that today is the location of Angel Stadium. He came up with many new ideas for irrigating orange groves and shared his ideas with other landowners. He was not only successful, he helped other landowners and businesspeople succeed as well. Ben Baxter and other landowners helped to make Anaheim a thriving rural community before the opening of Disneyland transformed the city. A street along Edison Park is named Baxter Street. Also during this time, Rudolph Boysen served as Anaheim's first Park Superintendent from 1921 to 1950. Boysen created a hybrid berry which Walter Knott later named the boysenberry, after Rudy Boysen. Boysen Park in East Anaheim was also named after him.

In 1924, Ku Klux Klan members were elected to the Anaheim City Council on a platform of political reform. Up until that point, the city had been controlled by a long-standing business and civic elite that was mostly German American. Given their tradition of moderate social drinking, the German Americans did not strongly support prohibition laws of the day. The mayor himself was a former saloon keeper. Led by the minister of the First Christian Church, the Klan represented a rising group of politically oriented non-ethnic Germans who denounced the elite as corrupt, undemocratic, and self-serving. The Klansmen aimed to create what they saw as a model, orderly community, one in which prohibition against alcohol would be strictly enforced. At the time, the KKK had about 1200 members in Orange County. The economic and occupational profile of the pro and anti-Klan groups shows the two were similar and about equally prosperous. Klan members were Protestants, as were the majority of their opponents; however, the opposition to the Klan also included many Catholic Germans. Individuals who joined the Klan had earlier demonstrated a much higher rate of voting and civic activism than did their opponents, and many of the individuals in Orange County who joined the Klan did so out of a sense of civic activism. Upon easily winning the local Anaheim election in April 1924, the Klan representatives promptly fired city employees who were known to be Catholic and replaced them with Klan appointees. The new city council tried to enforce prohibition. After its victory, the Klan chapter held large rallies and initiation ceremonies over the summer.

The opposition to the KKK's hold on Anaheim politics organized, bribed a Klansman for their secret membership list, and exposed the Klansmen running in the state primaries, defeating most of the candidates. Klan opponents in 1925 took back local government, and succeeded in a special election in recalling the Klansmen who had been elected in April 1924. The Klan in Anaheim quickly collapsed; its newspaper closed after losing a libel suit, and the minister who led the local Klavern moved to Kansas.

Mid to late 20th century Construction of the Disneyland theme park began on July 16, 1954, and it opened to the public on July 17, 1955. It has become one of the world's most visited tourist attractions, with over 650 million visitors since its opening. The location was formerly 160 acres (0.65 km²) of orange and walnut trees. The opening of Disneyland created a tourism boom in the Anaheim area. Walt Disney had originally intended to purchase additional land to build accommodations for Disneyland visitors; however, the park's construction drained his financial resources and he was unable to acquire more land. Entrepreneurs eager to capitalize on Disney's success moved in and built hotels, restaurants, and shops around Disneyland and eventually boxed in the Disney property, and turned the area surrounding Disneyland into the boulevards of colorful neon signs that Walt Disney had tried to avoid. The city of Anaheim, eager for tax revenue these hotels would generate, did little to obstruct their construction.

By the mid-1960s, the city's explosive growth would attract a Major League Baseball team, with the California Angels relocating from Los Angeles to Anaheim in 1966, where they have remained since. In 1980, the National Football League's Los Angeles Rams relocated from the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum to the Angels' home field, Anaheim Stadium, playing there until their relocation to St. Louis in 1995. In 1993, Anaheim gained its own National Hockey League team when The Walt Disney Company founded the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim.

In the 1990s, while Disneyland was undergoing a significant expansion project surrounding the construction of Disney California Adventure Park, the city of Anaheim rebranded the surrounding area as the Anaheim Resort. The Anaheim Resort district is roughly bounded by the Santa Ana River to the east, Ball Road to the north, Walnut Street to the west, and the Garden Grove city limits to the south at Chapman Avenue, and Orangewood Avenue to the southwest. Attractions within the Resort District include the Disneyland Resort, the Anaheim Convention Center, the Honda Center, Anaheim/Orange County Walk of Stars, and Angel Stadium of Anaheim.

Part of the project included removing the colorful neon signs and replacing them with shorter, more modest signs, as well as widening the arterial streets in the area into tree-lined boulevards.

History: 21st century In 2001, Disney's California Adventure (renamed Disney California Adventure Park in 2010), the most expansive project in Disneyland's history, opened to the public. In 2007, Anaheim celebrated its sesquicentennial.

In July 2012, political protests by Hispanic residents occurred following the fatal shooting of two men, the first of whom was unarmed. Protesting occurred in the area between State College and East Street, and was motivated by concerns over police brutality, gang activity, domination of the city by commercial interests, and a perceived lack of political representation of Hispanic residents in the city government. The protests were accompanied by looting of businesses and homes.

Geography Anaheim is located approximately 25 miles (40 km) south-east of downtown Los Angeles. The city roughly follows the east-to-west route of the 91 Freeway from the Orange-Riverside county border to Buena Park. To the north, Anaheim is bounded by Yorba Linda, Placentia, Fullerton, and Buena Park (from east to west). The city shares its western border with Buena Park and Cypress. Anaheim is bordered on the south by Stanton, Garden Grove, and Orange (from west to east). Various unincorporated areas of Orange County also abut the city, including Anaheim Island. According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 50.8 square miles (132 km²), 49.8 square miles (129 km²) of which is land and 1.0 square mile (2.6 km²) of which (1.92%) is water.

Cityscape "Anaheim Canyon" redirects here. For the Metrolink train station, see Anaheim Canyon station.

The city recognizes several districts, including the Anaheim Resort (the area surrounding Disneyland), Anaheim Canyon (an industrial area north of California State Route 91 and east of California State Route 57), and the Platinum Triangle (the area surrounding Angel Stadium). Anaheim Hills also maintains a distinct identity. The contiguous commercial development from the Disney Resort through into the cities of Orange, Garden Grove and Santa Ana has collectively been termed the Anaheim–Santa Ana edge city.

Economy Anaheim's income is based on a tourism economy. In addition to The Walt Disney Company being the city's largest employer, the Disneyland Resort itself contributes about $4.7 billion annually to Southern California's economy. It also produces $255 million in taxes every year. Another source of tourism is the Anaheim Convention Center, which is home to many important national conferences. Many hotels, especially in the city's Resort district, serve theme park tourists and convention goers. Continuous development of commercial, entertainment, and cultural facilities stretches from the Disney area east to the Santa Ana River, south into the cities of Garden Grove, Orange and Santa Ana – collectively, this area has been labeled the Anaheim–Santa Ana edge city and is one of the three largest such clusters in Orange County, together with the South Coast Plaza–John Wayne Airport edge city and Irvine Spectrum.

The Anaheim Canyon business park makes up 63% of Anaheim's industrial space and is the largest industrial district in Orange County. Anaheim Canyon is also home to the second-largest business park in Orange County. Anaheim Canyon houses 2,600 businesses, which employ over 55,000 workers.

Several notable companies have corporate offices and/or headquarters within Anaheim. • Anaheim Memorial Medical Center • AT&T • Banco Popular, a bank based in Puerto Rico, has its mainland American headquarters in Anaheim • CKE Restaurants, the parent company of the Carl's Jr., Hardee's, Green Burrito, and Red Burrito restaurant chains • Disneyland Resort, part of Walt Disney Parks, Experiences and Consumer Products, a subsidiary of the Walt Disney Company • Extron Electronics, designs, manufactures, and services A/V electronics world-wide • Fisker Automotive • Fujitsu, computer • General Dynamics • Hewlett Packard • Isuzu North American headquarters • Kaiser Foundation • L-3 Communications • Living Stream Ministry • Pacific Sunwear • Panasonic • Pendarvis Manufacturing • Raytheon • Sunny Delight • Targus, a computer peripheral manufacturer • Tenet Healthcare • Toyota Financial Services • YKK, world's largest zipper manufacturing firm • Yogurtland • Zyxel, maker of routers, switches and other networking products

Economy: Top employers According to the city's Comprehensive Annual Financial Report, the top employers in the city include: 1 Disneyland Resort; 2 Kaiser Foundation Hospital; 3 Northgate González Markets; 4 Hilton Anaheim; 5 Angels Baseball; 6 Anaheim Regional Medical Center; 7 Anaheim Marriott; 8 L-3 Communications; 9 St. Joseph Heritage Healthcare; 10 Time Warner Cable.

Economy: Retail Larger retail centres include the Downtown Disney shopping area at the Disneyland Resort, the power centres Anaheim Plaza in western Anaheim (347,000 ft²), and Anaheim Town Square in East Anaheim (374,000 ft²), as well as the Anaheim GardenWalk lifestyle centre (440,000 ft² of retail, dining and entertainment located in the Anaheim Resort).

Attractions • American Sports Centers, home of the U.S. men's national volleyball team and U.S. women's national volleyball team • Anaheim Convention Center • Anaheim GardenWalk • Anaheim Hills Golf Course • Anaheim Founders' Park • Anaheim Ice • Anaheim/OC Walk of Stars • Angel Stadium of Anaheim • Dad Miller Golf Course • Disneyland Resort ◦ Disneyland Park ◦ Disney California Adventure Park ◦ Downtown Disney • Flightdeck Flight Simulation Center • The Grove of Anaheim, formerly the Sun Theater, formerly Tinseltown Studios • Honda Center, formerly the Arrowhead Pond of Anaheim • La Palma Park • MUZEO, Art Museum located in Downtown Anaheim • Oak Canyon Nature Center

Sport • NHL team: Anaheim Ducks – 2007 Stanley Cup Champions • MLB team: Los Angeles Angels – 2002 World Series Champions under the name Anaheim Angels

Emergency services Fire protection is provided by the Anaheim Fire Department, Disneyland Resort has its own Fire Department, though it does rely on the Anaheim Fire Department for support, and for Paramedic Services. Law enforcement is provided by the Anaheim Police Department. Ambulance service is provided by Care Ambulance Service.

Public Utilities Anaheim Public Utilities is the only municipal owned water and electric utility in Orange County, providing residential and business customers with water and electric services. The utility is regulated and governed locally by the City Council. A Public Utilities Board, made up of Anaheim residents, advises the City Council on major utility issues.

Anaheim has decided to bury power lines along major transportation corridors, converting its electricity system for aesthetic and reliability purposes. To minimize the impact on customer bills, undergrounding is taking place slowly over a period of 50 years, funded by a 4% surcharge on electric bills.

Crime In 2019, Anaheim reported 8 murders; given its population, this rate was lower than the average national rate by 17%. Reported rapes in the city are relatively uncommon as well, but have been increasing, along with the national average. Robbery (396 reported incidents) and aggravated assault (575 incidents) rank among the most frequent violent crimes in the city, though robbery rates are slightly less than the national average. 1,123 burglaries were reported, as well as 5,904 thefts and 1,231 car thefts. All three types of crime were below average.

Education Anaheim is served by seven public school districts: • Anaheim Elementary School District • Anaheim Union High School District • Centralia School District • Magnolia School District • Orange Unified School District • Placentia-Yorba Linda Unified School District • Savanna School District

Anaheim is home to 74 public schools, 47 of which serve elementary students, nine are junior high schools, fourteen are high schools and three offer alternative education.

Private schools in the city include Acaciawood Preparatory Academy, Cornelia Connelly High School, Fairmont Preparatory Academy, Servite High School and Zion Lutheran School (PS2-Grade 8).

Education: University Anaheim has two private universities: Anaheim University and Southern California Institute of Technology (SCIT).

The North Orange County Community College District and Rancho Santiago Community College District serve the community.

Libraries Anaheim has eight public library branches.

Transport In the main portion of the city (not including Anaheim Hills), the major surface streets running west–east, starting with the northernmost, are Orangethorpe Avenue, La Palma Avenue, Lincoln Avenue, Ball Road, and Katella Avenue. The major surface streets running south–north, starting with the westernmost, are Knott Avenue, Beach Boulevard (SR 39), Magnolia Avenue, Brookhurst Street, Euclid Street, West Street/Disneyland Drive, Harbor Boulevard, Anaheim Boulevard, East Street, State College Boulevard, Kraemer Boulevard, and Tustin Avenue.

In Anaheim Hills, the major surface streets that run west–east include Orangethorpe Avenue, La Palma Avenue, Santa Ana Canyon Road, and Nohl Ranch Road. Major surface streets that run north–south include Lakeview Avenue and Fairmont Boulevard. Imperial Highway (SR 90) and Yorba Linda Boulevard/Weir Canyon Road run as south–north roads in the city of Anaheim, but north of Anaheim, Imperial Highway and Yorba Linda Boulevard become west–east arterials.

Seven Caltrans state-maintained highways (in addition to the aforementioned surface streets SR 39 and SR 90) run through the city of Anaheim, four of which are freeways and one being a toll road. They include the Santa Ana Freeway (I-5), the Orange Freeway (SR 57), and the Riverside Freeway (SR 91). The Costa Mesa Freeway (SR 55), and the Eastern Transportation Corridor (SR 241 toll road) also have short stretches within the city limits.

Anaheim is served by two major railroads, the Union Pacific Railroad and the BNSF Railway. In addition, the Anaheim Regional Transportation Intermodal Center (ARTIC), a major regional transit station near Honda Center and Angel Stadium, serves Amtrak, Metrolink, and several bus operators, and the Anaheim Canyon Metrolink station serves Metrolink's Inland Empire–Orange County Line. ARTIC is a proposed stop on the proposed California High-Speed Rail network.

The Orange County Transportation Authority (OCTA) provides bus service for Anaheim with local and county-wide routes, and both OCTA and the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority operate bus routes connecting Anaheim to Los Angeles County and Riverside Transit Agency operates one bus route to serve Riverside and San Bernardino. Also, Anaheim Resort Transit (ART) provides local shuttle service in and around the Anaheim Resort area, serving local hotels, tourist attractions, and the Disneyland Resort. Disney GOALS operates daily free bus service for low-income youth in the central Anaheim area. A proposal for streetcar service along Harbor Boulevard was rejected in 2018.

Anaheim is equidistant from John Wayne Airport and Long Beach Airport (15 miles), but is also accessible from nearby Los Angeles International (30 miles), and Ontario (35 miles) airports.