The
French Park Historic District is a 20-square-block residential district northeast
of downtown Santa Ana. Its streets are lined with large homes built during the
late 1890s and into the 1920s and has a variety of home styles, including
Victorian, Craftsman, Colonial Revival, English Tudor and Spanish Colonial
Revival. This area was designated a local historic district in 1984 and renamed
the French Park Historic District. It was put on the National Register of
Historic Places in 1999.
It
was in 1877 that William Spurgeon, J. H. Fruit and James McFadden, three of
Santa Ana's most prominent citizens persuaded the Southern Railroad to extend
its line from its terminus at Anaheim to Santa Ana. By the time the tracks were
laid a year later, their company had plotted a 160-acre tract called Santa Ana
East. It was located parallel to the railroad tracks. A portion of this
property was later subdivided and became Flatiron Park (now known as French
Park).
The
movement to preserve and restore the French Park neighborhood began in the late
l970s. A new group of people with an appreciation for old houses began to move
into the neighborhood. They organized the Historic French Park Association in
1980 and began working with the City of Santa Ana's Housing Services Division
to upgrade the neighborhood.
This
was my first visit to this part of Santa Ana. I needed to be in the area
this morning and extended my visit to include my own walking tour and photo
shoot. It was a beautiful crisp and sunny morning; quite for a Monday
given the holiday week, but buzzing with the occasional gardener’s equipment
and a few neighbors out for a stroll.
I
hope you enjoy looking at these images as much as I enjoyed seeing and creating
them.