Item 18 - Appeal Application Nos. 2023-02 and 2023-03 for Cabrillo Town Center project

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HISTORIC RESOURCES ASSESSMENT TOWN CENTER PLAZA � C A A DULY 2022 SANTA ANA, CALIFORNIA J RESULTS RESEARCH Early Settlement In 1810, Jose Antonio Yorba and his nephew, Juan Pablo Peralta, received a land grant from the Spanish civil governor of Alta California. Sergeant Yorba had served with the Portola Expedition, which explored the area of the current project in 1769. The Yorbas and the Peraltas were two of the most prominent families in Alta California. Yorba named the land Rancho Santiago de Santa Ana. The land grant consisted of around 63,000 acres covering 25 miles between the Santa Ana River, the mountains to the east, and the ocean. No other rancho from the Spanish or Mexican Period is entirely located within today's Orange County boundaries (Marsh 1994). Settlement of the region was facilitated by the partitioning of Rancho Santiago de Santa Ana in 1868. Partitioning allowed Americans such as Abel Stearns, E. Glassell, and Jacob Ross to acquire rights to large tracts of land. William Henry Spurgeon and his brother, Granville, both natives of Kentucky, came to California during the Gold Rush. The Granville brothers and an associate, Ward Bradford, searched the area between Tustin City and the Santa Ana River, looking for a potential townsite location. In October 1869, Ward Bradford and William Henry Spurgeon purchased 74 acres of land from Jacob Ross, who had purchased a portion of the rancho land (Parker 1963). They bought the land for approximately $8 per acre (Parker 1963). After the purchase, Bradford took the westerly half of the land and Spurgeon the easterly half. Bradford soon sold off his interest in the land and moved from the area. Spurgeon began mapping what was to become the Santa Ana townsite, named for the valley and the rancho. Spurgeon had the townsite surveyed by George Wright, and on December 13, 1870, Spurgeon recorded a map of his new community (Parker 1963). The new subdivision consisted of 24 blocks with 10 lots each (Tibbet 2008). The boundaries of the new townsite were 7th Street on the north, 1st Street on the south, West Street (now Broadway) on the west, and Spurgeon Street on the east (Friis 1965). (This area is located 1.7 miles west of the current project area.) Spurgeon constructed a road between Santa Ana and a ford called Rodriquez crossing, which crossed the Santa Ana River west of Orange. This new road enabled the stage line that ran between Los Angeles and San Diego to come through Santa Ana before it continued in a southeasterly direction to Tustin City and San Juan Capistrano. The stage stopped twice weekly delivering passengers and mail at Spurgeon's store at the corner of Broadway and 4th Street. In 1877, an effort was initiated by several businessmen to convince the Southern Pacific Railroad (SP) to extend its line from Anaheim to Santa Ana (Sapphos 2011). James H. Fruit and James McFadden joined Spurgeon and organized the Western Development Company. The company raised enough funds to pay the SP a bonus and purchase 160 acres of land northeast of and adjacent to the original Santa Ana townsite (Swanner 1953). The Western Development Company named the new area "Santa Ana East" (Sapphos 2011). It plotted the tract with streets running parallel with and at Play °touncif �07/21/22) 18 - 776 10/3/2023 5