The area includes two mobile home parks and the residents who live here are of moderate income, with many of them senior citizens.
As a result, Midway City presently is composed of four anemic sections, or "islands", that have stepped boundaries which include mostly residential property, small businesses, and not-for-profit businesses such as churches, American Legion Post 555, and the Brothers of Saint Patrick order.
[11] Seven years later, Midway City began to take shape in 1922 when John H. Harper purchased 200 acres (0.81 km2) of land based on the location of a local stagecoach stop and needs of the workers in the Huntington Beach Oil Field located west of the stagecoach stop.
[4][5] Harper subsequently subdivided his land by laying out streets, building sidewalks, and, in 1923,[4] started selling lots.
[17] After learning of American aviator Charles Lindbergh's famed May 20–21, 1927 first solo transatlantic flight via non-stop fixed-wing aircraft flight between America and mainland Europe,[17] Zenith Corporation owners Charles Rocheville and Albin Peterson formed the Zenith Aircraft Corporation.
[18] With no market for the then-largest aircraft in the world,[19] the Zenith Albatross Z-12 eventually was sold to Hollywood and used to represent a crashed Fokker in the 1928 film Conquest directed by filmmaker Roy Del Ruth.
[17][20] In 1928, American aviator Charles Lindbergh and some investors stopped off at Eddie Martin Airport looking for another airfield field in what was to become Midway City to see Zenith's Albatross.
[20][21] That same year, the politically powerful Ladies Social and Civic Club of Midway City built a community clubhouse at the corner of Bolsa Avenue and Monroe Street from land donated by Harper that the Chamber of Commerce and other organizations subsequently used.
[24] The Long Beach earthquake of March 10, 1933 had such a significant impact on Midway City that it still was a topic of interest for the residents in August 1933.
[5] The clubhouse for the Midway City Women's Club eventually was moved in 1989 to Leaora L. Blakey Park at 8612 Westminster Boulevard.
[22] In 1936, seven families that made up the Midway City Dairy Association received a loan of $7,850 in June from the Resettlement Administration,[26] a New Deal U.S. federal agency that, between April 1935 and December 1936, relocated struggling urban and rural families to communities planned by the federal government.
[26] The seven families used the money to rehabilitate the Midway City Dairy Association: "The plant was immediately renovated, and better equipment procured by trade.
[29] In 1942, local landmark Midway City Feed Store open to service horse owners in the surrounding areas and also began selling rabbits, guinea pigs, baby chicks, ducklings, and goslings from its large yellow barn.
[31] Six years later in 1948, the Brothers of Saint Patrick order was established in Midway City as the United States foundation and headquarters of Patrician Brothers,[32] an Ireland-based Roman Catholic congregation for the religious and literary education of youth and the instruction of the faithful in Christian piety.
The brothers work extended in the Diocese of Orange County and Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Los Angeles.
[5] Prior to the March 1957 creation date of Tri-City, California, Midway City had dropped out, citing fears of high taxes.
[5] In 1986, Orange County used money from the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development to purchase about five acres of land from Southern California Edison and develop part of the land as Midway Meadows, a Midway City project consisting of 92-one bedroom apartment units for senior citizens.
[5][37] Later that same year, the county selected Midway City's Interval House, a shelter for abused women, to receive part of a $1-million grant for expansion.
[39] In March 1993, Orange County Supervisor Don Roth admitted to violating California state ethics laws, agreed to pay $50,000 in fines, and do 200 hours of community service work in connection with his 1990–1992 role in overruling a 1990 Orange County Planning Commission decision and approving a $5-million condominium project on land in Midway City.
[43] In September 1999, workers repairing broken water lines in the Midway City 15000 block of Cedarwood Avenue (33°44′14″N 117°59′36″W / 33.737311°N 117.993273°W / 33.737311; -117.993273 (Early man site)) dug up a 500-year-old human skull and teeth, and seashells when they reached about three feet down.
"[13] In January 2010, Orange County supervisors approve a $350,000 memorial dedicated to Vietnamese and American history to installed in Roger Stanton Park in Midway City.
According to the 2010 United States Census, Midway City had a median household income of $44,595, with 20.9% of the population living below the federal poverty line.
[76] Live pet animal seller Midway City Feed Store, which has been selling rabbits, guinea pigs, baby chicks, ducklings, and goslings from its large yellow barn in Midway City since 1942,[31] resides between the two food animal sellers just off Bolsa Avenue north on Jackson Street,[77] and the Animal Assistance League of Orange County, a nonprofit, no-kill humane society that aids lost and homeless pets,[78] also resides in Midway City between the two food animal sellers just off Bolsa Avenue, but south on Jackson Street.
The Albert E. Schwab American Legion Post had an original lifeguard's tower from Huntington Beach as an unusual landmark in its parking lot, but not anymore.
In addition, the interior of the Legion Post's club includes several 40-foot-wide murals commemorating U.S. World War II military history events such as the Attack on Pearl Harbor, the Battle of Midway, and the dropping of the atomic bomb on Nagasaki.
[4] The Midway City representatives typically discuss street lights, water supply, zoning, and neighborhood watch and their decisions usually are made final by the Orange County Board of Supervisors.
[82] The three wells are operated and funded by local residents and work via hydro pneumatic pumps drawing 300 to 750 gallons per minute of water above ground to onsite water tanks at three separate locations:[82] 8301 Madison Ave, 14731 Jackson St, and 14582 Hunter Lane.
[6] Of these, Midway City's southwest island includes land along the heavily traveled Beach Boulevard/California State Route 39 that could be redeveloped to generate significant business tax revenue for Westminster.