[2] A centerpiece of the Arboretum is the Heritage House, which was built in 1894 as the home and office of Fullerton's pioneer physician, Dr. George C. Clark.

The land had originally been an orange grove and suffered a disease called "quick decline", which led to the death of the trees.

Teri Jones, along with other faculty wives, worked together to find support for developing the land into an arboretum.

The Arboretum Committee was formed and they later won a Disneyland Community Service Award for its environmental efforts.

The Arboretum Society was formed and they started fundraisers on campus to build a botanical garden.

The Friends organization became a tax-exempt, non-profit corporation that helped raise funds for the project and continues to exist to this day.

[3] The Orange County Agricultural and Nikkei Heritage Museum is located on the grounds of the Arboretum and Botanical Garden at Cal State Fullerton, and highlights the region's agricultural history, as well as the contributions of the local Japanese American community and other pioneering farmers.