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Garden Grove
Lifestyle
The
Garden Grove Community Foundation was
founded in 1998 to regionally showcase and promote the city of Garden Grove. The Foundation’s
promotional program, called "Renaissance Garden Grove," features a free
summer concert series, an educational speakers series, and several special
events throughout the year. Garden Grove displays signs of this Renaissance,
such as it's seven new hotels, a 16-screen multiplex theater, and a new
Higher Education Center are just some of the projects currently underway.
Garden Grove
Housing
A drive through town reveals the
large parks, thriving businesses, both established neighborhoods and new
housing developments, and a wonderful cultural diversity, yet cohesive
population. Garden Grove currently has 45,791 Households with 3.56 people
per household. The median home value is $231,050 with a median unit rental
cost of $867 with an average of 3.2 people per household. (year 2000
figures).
World War II had an important impact on city growth. A
post World War II real estate boom marked the beginning of the largest
growth cycle in Garden Grove’s history. Servicemen who had
trained in California for the war came back to Garden Grove to raise
their families.
A sudden building boom caused by land availability and
low prices , turned Garden Grove into the fastest growing city in
the America in the 1950s.
Garden Grove
Employment
The average household income in Garden Grove as of 2000
is $52,733 and the median income is $39,900,
Garden Grove's top jobs include:
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Manufacturing, Durable: 14,042
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Retail Trade: 11,951
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Construction: 5,072
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Financial/Ins/Real Estate: 5,032
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Business/Repair Services: 4,781
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Professional/Health/Related: 4,260
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Education: 3,686
Garden Grove
Culture
 Garden
Grove's annual Strawberry Festival, the second largest
community sponsored event in the western United States, was started in
1958. The Strawberry Festival, second only
to the Rose Parade, features a star studded parade and the
world’s largest strawberry shortcake. The Garden Grove event’s most famous Grand
Marshal, Bobby Kennedy, presided over the parade in 1964. Over $4,000,000 in
event proceeds have been donated to local charities
serving Garden Grove residents since 1958. Garden
Grove is Home of the Crystal Cathedral and The Grove
Theater.
Garden Grove
Recreation
Recreation
Parks (165 Acres): 20
Athletic Fields, plus some combined with schools: 2
Municipal Golf Course: 1
Municipal Tennis Courts, plus area school courts: 8
Swimming Pools: 3
Multipurpose /Soccer Fields: 12
Baseball Fields: 10
Softball Fields: 4
Rollerhockey Rinks: 3
Arena Soccer Complex: 1
Community Picnic Shelter: 1
Outdoor Basketball Courts: 10
Garden Grove
Education
Garden Grove has 3 Libraries including an Orange County Regional Branch
The Garden Grove Unified School District
consists of 45 elementary 9 junior high and 8 high schools with 2 special
education and 2 adult schools and 5 community colleges.
Garden Grove
Climate
Average Minimum Temperature: 65
Average Maximum Temperature: 80
Average Annual Rainfall: 12.6 inches
Garden Grove
History
Spanish soldiers commanded by Gaspar de Portola first discovered Orange
County as they made their way north across California in 1769. During
their journey, the soldiers camped on a wide grassy plain east of present
day Garden Grove. They named the area the Santa Ana Valley and claimed the
state of California as a possession of Spain. The Santa Ana Valley was
divided into ranchos as some of the soldiers settled in the area. In 1822,
Mexico gained independence from Spain, and California became a province of
Mexico. It was the treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo in 1848, at the end of the
Mexican-American War, that made all of California a territory of the
United States of America. In 1850, California became the 31st state in the
union.
 A businessman named Abel Stearns bought large tracts of
land in Southern California in 1868 and divided some of it into smaller
lots to sell to settlers. In 1874, Alonzo Cook purchased 160 acres of land
in the area for about $15 an acre. Recognized as Garden Grove's Founding
Father, he later donated land north of Main Street and Garden Grove
Boulevard for use as the site of the first schoolhouse and post office.
Cook suggested the name "Garden Grove" for the school and surrounding
village. Some countered that the name did not fit the open terrain. Cook
responded, "We'll make it appropriate by planting trees and making it
beautiful."
The permanent settlement of the Garden Grove area was established
in 1874 by Dr. Alonzo Cook, and the city's incorporation date is June 18, 1956. Garden Grove, marking
its 129th anniversary in 2003, began as a vision of a settlement for
families to live and thrive. Cook’s vision of creating a "garden grove
community" in the grassy fields became the settlers mission then,
and has evolved to become our philosophy the present, to help improve the
quality of life for Garden Grove residents - making it the very best it
can be.
For the first 80 years, early settlers of Garden Grove
pulled together to build a community from pastureland. Homes, schools,
churches and businesses were built. In 1905, the Pacific Electric Railroad
came through Garden Grove. The railroad brought tourists, visitors, and
before long, more settlers. Soon after came the first telephone, gas and
electric services for the residents near Main Street. Garden Grove was a
thriving farming community, with a major railroad, a Post Office, and a
bank.
During
the next 40 years, agriculture continued as the town's main economy.
Although ideally located in the center of the county, Garden Grove's
growth was slowed by two disasters during those years. The first was in
1916, when the center of town was flooded and came under about four feet
of water after days of heavy rains. Then, in 1933, another disaster
damaged the old town section of Garden Grove when an earthquake struck.
After these two natural disasters struck, Garden Grove residents
joined in spirit and labor to repair the damage and continue the progress
of Garden Grove. Garden Grove’s population was estimated at 5,500 people.
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