Santa Ana
—  City  —
Images, from top, left to right: The Old Orange County Courthouse, Bowers Museum, old city hall, Minter House, and Broadway street
Flag of Santa Ana Flag Official seal of Santa Ana Seal
Location of Santa Ana within Orange County, California
Santa Ana Location in the United States
Coordinates: 33°44′27″N 117°52′53″W / 33.74083°N 117.88139°W / 33.74083; -117.88139Coordinates: 33°44′27″N 117°52′53″W / 33.74083°N 117.88139°W / 33.74083; -117.88139
Country	United States
State	California
County	Orange
Founded	1869
Government
• Mayor	Miguel A. Pulido
Area[1]
• Total	27.518 sq mi (71.271 km2)
• Land	27.270 sq mi (70.628 km2)
• Water	0.248 sq mi (0.643 km2)  0.90%
Elevation	115 ft (35 m)
Population (2010)[2]
• Total	324,528
• Rank	2nd in Orange County 11th in California 57th in the United States
• Density	12,000/sq mi (4,600/km2)
Time zone	PST (UTC-8)
• Summer (DST)	PDT (UTC-7)
ZIP codes	92701-92708, 92711, 92712, 92725, 92728, 92735, 92799
Area code(s)	714/949
FIPS code	06-69000
GNIS feature ID	1652790 [3]
Website	www.santa-ana.org

Santa Ana in 1887

Santa Ana /ˌsæntə ˈænə/ is the county seat and second most populous city in Orange County, California, and with a population of 324,528 at the 2010 census, Santa Ana is the 57th-most populous city in the United States.

Founded in 1869, Santa Ana is located in Southern California adjacent to the Santa Ana River, 10 miles (16 km) away from the California coast. The city is part of the Los Angeles–Long Beach–Santa Ana metropolitan area which, according to the U.S. Census Bureau, is the second largest metropolitan area in the U.S., with almost thirteen million people. According to the 2000 U.S. Census, of U.S. cities with more than 300,000 people, Santa Ana is the 4th-most densely populated behind only New York City, San Francisco, and Chicago, and slightly denser than Boston.^[4]

Santa Ana lends its name to the Santa Ana Freeway (I-5), which runs through the city. It also shares its name with the nearby Santa Ana Mountains, and the Santa Ana winds, which have historically fueled seasonal wildfires throughout Southern California.^[5] The current Office of Management and Budget (OMB) metropolitan designation for the Orange County Area is "Santa Ana-Anaheim-Irvine, CA".

History[link]

Members of the Tongva and Juaneño/Luiseño nations long inhabited the area. The Tongva Indians called the Santa Ana area "Hotuuk."^[6]

After the 1769 expedition of Gaspar de Portolá out of Mexico City, then capitol of New Spain, Friar Junípero Serra named the area Vallejo de Santa Ana (Valley of Saint Anne, or Santa Ana Valley). On November 1, 1776, Mission San Juan Capistrano was established within this valley. This Santa Ana Valley comprised most of what is now called Orange County.

In 1810, year of the commencement of the war of Mexican Independence (1810–1821), Jose Antonio Yorba, a sergeant of the Spanish army, was granted land that he called Rancho Santiago de Santa Ana. Yorba's rancho included the lands where the cities of Olive, Orange, Irvine, Yorba Linda, Villa Park, Santa Ana, Tustin, Costa Mesa and unincorporated El Modena, and Santa Ana Heights, are today. This rancho was the only land grant in Orange County granted under Spanish Rule. Surrounding land grants in Orange County were granted after Mexican Independence by the new government.

After the Mexican-American war ended in 1848, Alta California became part of the United States and American settlers arrived in this area.

Claimed in 1869 by Kentuckian William H. Spurgeon on land obtained from 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 County.

Old Santa Ana City Hall, built 1935

By 1906 the Pacific Electric Railway from Los Angeles was extended to Santa Ana, running along Fourth Street downtown. The "red cars" made travel to Los Angeles easier and helped continue Santa Ana's population boom. Due to declining ridership, the route 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 which eventually merged with the Lockheed Corporation to form the largest defense contractor in the world, Lockheed Martin.^[7]

During World War II, the Santa Ana Army Air Base was built as a training center for the United States Army Air Forces. The base was responsible for continued population growth in Santa Ana and the rest of Orange County as many veterans moved to the area to raise families after the end of the war.^[8]

In 1987, MainPlace Mall (now Westfield MainPlace) was opened north of downtown and became a major retail center for the area.

Having been a Charter City since November 11, 1952, the citizens of Santa Ana amended the Charter November 1988 to provide for the direct election of the Mayor who until that point had been an appointee 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.

Since the 1980s, Santa Ana has been characterized by an effort to revitalize the downtown area which had declined in influence. The Santa Ana Artist's Village was created around Cal State Fullerton's Grand Central Art Center to attract artists and young professionals to live-work lofts and new businesses. The process has continued into 2009 with the reopening of the historic Yost Theater.^[9]

Geography[link]

Santa Ana is located at 33°44′27″N 117°52′53″W / 33.74083°N 117.88139°W / 33.74083; -117.88139 (33.740717, -117.881408).^[10]

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 27.5 square miles (71 km²). 27.3 square miles (71 km²) of it is land and 0.2 square miles (0.52 km²) of it (0.90%) is water. It is the 4th most densely populated place in the United States with a population of 300,000 or more with 12,471.5 people per sq. mile.

Santa Ana is nested on flat, low-lying plains with little land elevation change. Running through the west end of the city is the mostly channelized Santa Ana River, which is also largely seasonal due to the construction of the Prado Dam and Seven Oaks Dam. The river has caused several severe floods in the 20th century, and is a continued threat despite the existence of the dams.

	Garden Grove	Anaheim	Orange
	Westminster		Tustin
		Santa Ana, California    East
	Fountain Valley	Costa Mesa	Irvine

Cityscape[link]

Now fully developed, Santa Ana has several distinct districts. The core of the city is the downtown area, which contains both retail and housing, as well as the Santa Ana Civic Center which is a dense campus of administrative buildings for both the city and the county of Orange. The civic center is also home to the Ronald Reagan Federal Building and Courthouse. Several historic homes dating from the late 1800s can be found as well, and their preservation is a key issue as development of the downtown area continues.^[11]

North of downtown is the "Midtown" district along Main St., home to entertainment destinations such as the Bowers Museum, MainPlace Mall, and the Discovery Science Center.

Near the intersection of the Santa Ana Freeway and the Costa Mesa Freeway is the newly-designated "Metro East" area, which the city council has envisioned as a secondary mixed-use development district.^[12] Currently the area is occupied by several office towers, but little retail or housing. Also on the east side of the city is the Santa Ana Zoo, notable for its collection of monkeys and species from South and Central America.

The south end of the city is part of the South Coast Metro area, which is shared with the city of Costa Mesa. South Coast Plaza, a major shopping center, is the primary destination of this area, which also contains several high-rise office and apartment buildings.

Climate[link]

Santa Ana experiences a Mediterranean climate, with warm, dry summers and mild, wet winters. The summer months of June - September averages a daytime high of 82 (F) degrees and a nighttime low of 62 (F) degrees. The winter months of December - March averages a daytime high of 70 (F) degrees and a nighttime low of 48 (F) degrees. Rainfall averages about 14 inches (356 mm) per year, most of which falls from November through April. There are an average of 34 days with measurable precipitation annually.

The record high temperature for Santa Ana was 112 °F (44 °C) on June 14, 1917. The record low temperature was 22 °F (−6 °C) on December 31, 1918, and January 1, 1919. There are an average of 24.5 days with highs of 90 °F (32 °C) or higher and an average of 6.4 days with lows of 32 °F (0 °C) or lower.

The wettest year in Santa Ana was 1941 with 32.36 inches (82.2 cm) and the driest year was 1961 with 3.55 inches (9.0 cm). The most rainfall in one month was 13.99 inches (35.5 cm) in February 1998. The most rainfall in 24 hours was 4.69 inches (11.9 cm) on February 16, 1927.^[13]

Demographics[link]