Early Santa Ana. This item is unavailable.Early Santa Ana

Located at the heart of Orange County, Santa Ana has been the civic and community center as "the OC" grew and prospered. Thirty-three miles from Los Angeles and 12 miles from the Pacific Ocean, the city was founded by William Spurgeon, who, in 1867, purchased just over 74 acres of what was once the Yorba family's Rancho Santiago de Santa Ana to start a new community. This book revisits those formative years that left a rich history in architecture and culture, laying the foundation for today's 350,000 city residents. Santa Ana boasts two historic districts and 20 buildings on the National Register of Historic Places. Growing with the ranching and citrus industries as well as the transportation routes they spawned, the city also contains 400 locations of historic significance on its own citywide historic register.

In 1997, Marge Bitetti earned her master's degree in business management from Webster University. Her undergraduate degree is in radio-TV broadcasting from California State University, Long Beach. In 2003, she completed training at Riverside Community College and earned a certificate in grant writing. She currently works as a writing consultant and for businesses and nonprofits in the Inland Empire. She is a member of the Author's Guild. Tony Bitetti's engineering background contributes to his knowledge of requirements for quality documentation. He has over twenty-two years of experience in quality documentation, including graphic design and desktop publishing, as well as creating, controlling, editing, proofreading and maintaining brochures, newsletters, pamphlets, plans and procedures, specifications and technical manuals. A United States Congressman representing the 44th Congressional District in California's Riverside and Orange Counties, Ken Calvert has introduced and backed legislation supporting aviation and aerospace, including the Distinguished Flying Cross National Memorial Act and the 2005 reauthorization of NASA. He was born in, and resides in, Corona.

Guy Ball, whose books include Santa Ana in Vintage Postcards and Early Santa Ana, was charmed by the hometown spirit alive in Tustin and settled with his family here. The Tustin Area Historical Society, which operates a wonderful museum in Old Town Tustin, supplied most of these vintage images.