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Mission San Juan Capistrano was established within this valley
This Santa Ana Valley comprised most of what is now called Orange Country -
Year of the commencement of the war of Mexican Independence
Jose Antonio Yorba, a sergeant of the Spanish army, was granted land that he called Rancho Santiago de Santa Ana. -
After the Mexican-American war ended in 1848, Alta California became part of the United States
American settlers arrived in this area -
Claimed in 1869 by Kentuckian William H. Spurgeon on land obtained by the descendents of Jose Antonio Yorba
Santa Ana was incorporated as a city in 1886 with a population of 2000 and in 1889 became the seat of the newly formed Orange Country -
The Pacific Electric Railway from Los Angeles was extended to Santa Ana, running along Fourth Street downtown
Due to declining ridership, the rout was abandoned by the 1950s and the tracks were removed along with much of the rest of the Pacific Electric System. The closing coincided with the opening of the Santa Ana Freeway in 1953, increasing the ease of travel by automobile -
Santa Ana was the home of the original Glenn L. Martin aviation company, founded in 1912 before merging with the Wright Company in 1916
Later, Glenn Luther Martin created a second company of the same name in Cleveland, Ohio wich eventually merged with the Lockheed Corporation to form the largest defense contractor in the world, Lockheed Martin -
Having been a Charter City the citizens of Santa Ana amended the Charter November 1988 to provide fo the direct election of the Mayor who until that point had been an appointed of the Council
The current Mayor of Santa Ana is Miguel A. Pulido, the first mayor of Latino descent in the city`s history and in fact, the first Mayor directly elected by the voters -
Santa Ana has been characterized by an effort to revitalize the downtown area which had declined in influence
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Main Place (now Westfield Main Place) was opened north of downtown and became a major retail center of the area