Agenda Packet 11.6.25 (2) - Laserfiche WebLink

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French Park Historic District, Santa Ana, CA Orange County United States Department of the Interior National Parit Service National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet Section number-----page-----------3_ This district is also significant under Criterion A in the ai;ea of social history by virtue of the fact that many of Santa Ana's most prominent citizens built houses or bought existing houses in the Historic French Park district from the 1880s until the 1940s. Most had previously lived elsewhere in the city and were already established in the community. The houses they built or purchased in French Park were the symbols of their success. Their contributions are listed briefly under each address on the continuation sheets. Bankers and Attorneys: Miles Crookshank, in 1899, set the tone for the development of the neighborhood when he built his large Neo-classical house at 802 N. French Street. He had founded the First National Bank of Santa Ana in 1886, the . the city's most successful bank, the year he arrived in town. His son, Claience, (810 N. French St.),who was first affiliated with the First National Bank, went on to become president of the Santa Ana Building and Loan Company. Robert Chilton, who built the house now located at 321 E. 8th Street, head cashier and an officer for the Orange County Trust and Savings Bank, served as City Treasurer and Postmaster in the 1880s and 90s. Clyde Bishop, who built the Neo-classical house at 1108 N. French, served in the State Legislature for two terms, beginning in 1906, the same year he built the house. He authored the Newbert Protection District Bill, was chairman of the County Boundaries Committee, and served on the Judiciary, Constitutional, and Municipal Corporations Committees. A prominent local attorney, he conducted Orange's first bond issue. As Newport Beach city attorney, he conducted the proceedings for that city's incorporation. Eugene Erwin Keech, who built the large Neo-classical home at 201 E. Washington Street in 1899, was one of the best known water rights attorneys in California. Author Earl Stanley Gardner, a close friend of the Keeches, is known to have visited the hpuse to consult with Mr. Keech while doing research for his' books. Keech was serving as president of the Orange County Bar Association at the time of his death in 1917. Other attorneys living in the neighborhood included Otto Jacobs (1117 N. Bush), who was a partner in the firm of Head, Wellington, and Jacobs.