Cypress, California, United States

🇺🇸 Cypress is a city in north-western Orange County within Southern California. The first people living in the area now known as Cypress were the Gabrieleno, a Native American tribe of the Tongva people, who were displaced soon after the arrival of the Europeans. Cypress is bounded to the north by the city of La Palma, then clockwise by Buena Park, Anaheim, Stanton, Garden Grove, Los Alamitos, Long Beach, Hawaiian Gardens, and Lakewood. Cypress is adjacent to the Imperial Estates neighborhood of Long Beach and the Coyote Creek bicycle path to the west and is approximately 13 miles (21 km) north of Bolsa Chica. The closest beach to Cypress is Seal Beach, which is roughly 7.8 miles (12.6 km) away from the centre of Cypress. Cypress is less than a 20-minute drive from Long Beach Airport.

History Cypress originally was nicknamed "Waterville" due to the preponderance of artesian wells in the area, but was incorporated under the name Dairy City in 1956 by local dairy farmers as a means of staving off developers and to preserve their dairies, much like the then-neighboring cities of Dairy Valley in Cerritos and Dairyland in La Palma. After World War II, however, the land became too valuable for farming or ranching, and the dairies gradually sold out to housing developers during the 1960s, so that by the 1970s no dairies remained. Many of the dairymen moved their operations to Chino, where development is once again pushing them out of the area.

In 1957 local residents voted to change the name of "Dairy City" to "Cypress". The name was taken from Cypress Elementary School (originally built in 1895) which took its name from the Cypress trees planted to protect the schoolhouse from the seasonal Santa Ana winds. Cypress Elementary School also provided the name for new Pacific Electric Railway station on Walker Street at Lincoln Avenue when the Santa Ana Line was completed in 1906, as "Waterville" already had been used elsewhere in the system.

In 1981 the City of Cypress inaugurated an annual birthday celebration for the city. The event, the Cypress Community Festival, currently may be the largest single-day event of its kind in Orange County, California. The Cypress Community Festival is held annually on the 4th Saturday in July at Oak Knoll Park, located adjacent to the Cypress Community Center at 5700 Orange Avenue, between Valley View Street and Walker Avenue.

Geography According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 6.6 square miles (17.1 km²). 6.6 square miles (17.0 km²) of it is land and 0.14% is water.

Demographics Cypress first appeared as a city in the 1960 U.S. Census as part of the Buena Park-Cypress census county division. As of 2023, the Census Bureau QuickFacts estimates the population of Cypress to be at 49,243. Cypress is a fairly diverse city. Asian Americans make up 37.1% of the population. White alone, not Hispanic or Latino, make up 33.5%. Hispanic or Latino make up 20.4% of the population. Those who identify as two or more races make up 10.6% of the population. Black or African Americans make up 3.4%. Foreign born residents make up 29.9% of the population.

Economy Real Mex Restaurants is headquartered in Cypress. The Los Alamitos Race Course is located in Cypress, even though it bears the name of its neighboring city of Los Alamitos.

Economy: Top employers The top employers in the city include: 1 UnitedHealth Group; 2 Siemens; 3 Cypress College; 4 Hybrid Promotions; 5 C & D Zodiac; 6 Yamaha Motor Company; 7 Primary Color Systems; 8 Los Alamitos Race Course; 9 Trident University; 10 Costco.

Education Schools inside the Cypress city limits belong to the Anaheim Union High School District and the Cypress Elementary School District. However, some Cypress students are part of the attendance areas for the Savanna Elementary School District, Garden Grove Unified School District, and Los Alamitos Unified School District.

Public schools within Cypress: • Cypress High School • Lexington Junior High • Oxford Academy • Christine P. Swain Elementary • Margaret Landell Elementary • A.E. Arnold Elementary • Juliet Morris Elementary • Frank Vessels Elementary • Robert C. Cawthon Elementary • Clara J. King Elementary • Steve Luther Elementary; Private schools: • St Irenaeus Parish School

Cypress College is located in the city.