Item 19 - Mills Act Agreement - 1218 N French St.

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French Park Historic District, Santa Ana, CA Orange County Wt rvm 10400-4 040 ors A~wWf. ► &.Wts United States Department of the Interior National Paris Service National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet Section number s Page 2 boon to the farmers, who brought their products to town for shipping to Los Angeles. The railroad also had connections to and from the East and Midwest. True to Spurgeon, Fruit, and McFadden's prediction, Santa Ana prospered, while Tustin, five miles to the east, lanquished. The Western Development Company offered the the merchants who had businesses along Fourth Street, Santa Ana's original commercial center, a free lot if they would move to Santa Ana East. At first most were enthus- iastic. Soon, however, the merchants began to have misgivings. One of the largest property owners in town, Jacob Ross, withdrew his support because he was afraid his land on the opposite side of town would lose value. He hired men to meet the arriving trains with placards that read, "This is only our depot; come down and see our town." The most resounding blow to the future of Santa Ana East, however, was Levi Gildmacher, the owner of a general store on the west side of town. He regularly extended credit to the farmers, allowing them to wait until they were paid for their crops before requiring reimbursement. By refusing to relocate to Santa Ana East, he kept the economic support of the community in the original commercial center located along Fourth Street. Most of Santa Ana East remained barren until the late 1880's, when the western side of the tract began to develop as residential and the eastern half, on the other side of the tracks, as industrial. During the .1890s, George Wright purchased the triangle created by the formation of Santa Ana East, building a small house there. Thinking that the triangle would make a nice park, in the Mid-1890s the neighbors purchased the property. Mr. Wright moved his house across the street to the southeast corner of Vance, where the Wright Apartments now stands. The neighbors dedicated the triangle, then called Flat Iron Park because of its triangular shape, to the city. Houses with a variety of architectural styles and representing several periods of Santa Ana ..history now fill tie neighborhood streets; however, the plan for Santa Ana East, as envisioned by Fruit, Spurgeon, and McFadden can still be seen in French Park's unique street pattern.