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| Landmark #201 | Orange County | Visited: October 21, 2012 | Plaque? YES! 🙂 |
| What is it? | The Mother Colony House is now a museum, the oldest in Orange County! |
| What makes it historical? | THE GUIDE SAYS: Anaheim’s first house, built in 1857 by Founder George Hansen. “The Mother Colony,” a German group that left San Francisco to form a grape-growing colony in Southern California, selected the name given to this settlement. The vineyards, which became the largest in California, were destroyed by disease in 1885. The colony then started producing Valencia oranges. Here once resided actress Helena Modjeska and Henryk Sienkiewicz, author of Quo Vadis.
OTHER TIDBITS: The idea for the Anaheim Colony came about when three German musicians, John Fröhling, Charles Kohler, and John F. Beutler, had a picnic near Seal Rock in San Francisco and admired the delicious grapes that had come from Los Angeles. Deciding that this would be their next great business venture, Mr. Fröhling met with George Hansen and together bought 1,165 acres of land from Juan Pacifico Ontiveros. After a vote, they agreed to name their new colony “Anaheim,” a portmanteau for “Home by the Santa Ana River!” Fifty members of the newly formed Los Angeles Vineyard Society moved to the new colony of Anaheim in 1857, planting 400,000 mission grapevines that produced 1.25 million gallons of wine by 1884! One year later, a mysterious bacteria called Pierce’s disease, wiped out the entire crop! The colony scrambled to find a replacement, first making Anaheim famous for chili peppers and then eventually Valencia oranges, which spread and became the foundation for Orange County! This landmark is also listed on the National Register of Historic Places! |
| How can I Help the Helpers? | HERE’S HOW:
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| Where is this place? | LISTED DIRECTIONS: 414 N West St near Sycamore St Anaheim, CA 92805 ANNOTATIONS: From Los Angeles: ~26mi (42km) — 0.5hrs |
| When should I go? | The house is open for tours on the first Saturday of each month from 9:00 AM until 12:00 PM! |
