French Park Historic District--Santa Ana

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.