The
Orange County Performing Arts Center |
Costa
Mesa California was once grazing grounds for cattle belonging to
the Mission San Juan Capistrano. At the beginning of the 19th century,
missionaries built an adobe Estancia or way-station for the
vaqueros who tended the herds. This structure still stands and was
recently restored and transformed by the City into a museum at 1900
Adams Avenue.
By the late 1800's the little town of Harper, named after a nearby
rancher, had emerged on a siding of the Santa Ana and Newport Railroad.
On May 11, 1920, Harper officially changed its name to Costa Mesa,
which means coastal tableland in Spanish, and continued as an agricultural
community, growing sweet potatoes, corn, tomatoes, strawberries,
and apples (today the dominant industries are trade, services, manufacturing,
finance/insurance and real estate). World War II brought many thousands
of people to the area for training at the Santa Ana Army Air Base,
located on what is now the Orange County Fairgrounds, Orange Coast
College, and the present site of the Civic Center. When the war
ended, many of these men returned with their families to begin the
population boom which continues today. On June 29, 1953, the City
was incorporated and City Council-Manager form of government was
chosen. The new City had an area of 3.5 square miles and a population
of 16,840. Today, the population had risen to over 100,000 and the
area to 17 square miles.
Today, Costa Mesa, with its world class Costa Mesa hotels and restaurants,
is a major commercial and industrial center of Orange County. The
city, which formally adopted the slogan The City of the Arts
in late 1984, is home to a regional symphony orchestra, the South
Coast Repertory Theater and the Orange County Performing Arts Center.
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