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).
Fullerton is located at 33°52'48" North, 117°55'43" West (33.879914, -117.928749). It is approximately 25 miles southeast of downtown Los Angeles, and approximately 11 miles north-northwest of Santa Ana, the county seat. The city has a mean elevation of 150 feet 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.
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 is water. The total area is 0.14% 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. A proposed housing development in West Coyote Hills, a plot of open space west and north of Euclid and Rosecrans Avenues, has been the subject of community opposition.
As of the census of 2000, there are 126,003 people, 43,609 households, and 29,610 families residing in the city. The population density is 2,191.4/km2 (5,675.9/mi2). There are 44,771 housing units at an average density of 778.7/km2 (2,016.7/mi2). The racial makeup of the city is 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 are 43,609 households out of which 33.0% have children under the age of 18 living with them, 51.8% are married couples living together, 11.0% have a female householder with no husband present, and 32.1% are non-families. 23.5% of all households are made up of individuals and 7.3% have someone living alone who is 65 years of age or older. The average household size is 2.83 and the average family size is 3.37.
In the city the population is 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 are 65 years of age or older. The median age is 33 years. For every 100 females there are 97.7 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there are 96.1 males.
The median income for a household in the city is $50,269, and the median income for a family is $57,345. Males have a median income of $40,674 versus $31,677 for females. The per capita income for the city is $23,370. 11.4% of the population and 8.0% of families are below the poverty line. Out of the total population, 13.6% of those under the age of 18 and 5.4% of those 65 and older are living below the poverty line.
This section is drawn substantially from Oranges and Oil, by Fullerton Heritage
Evidence 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 Portol led an expedition north to establish Mission San Gabriel Arcangel, after whom the local Native American population were dubbed the Gabrielios. 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.
Source:
FullertonCalifornia.com
HOTELS • REAL ESTATE • JOBS