They survived primarily on honey, an array of berries, acorns, sage, squirrels, rabbits and birds.

[8] In the late 1760s, settlers and missions flourished under Spanish rule with the famous El Camino Real trail traversing the area.

Portions of the land were subdivided and made available for sale when California was admitted into the union of the United States.

They recalled the fertile land and huge sycamore trees they saw during an earlier visit to the Southern California area.

Three days after the Anaheim Branch Railroad crossed the "North-walk" for the first time, Gilbert Sproul surveyed a town site.

Johnston was also responsible for the first real industry in town, a cheese factory, by furnishing Tom Lumbard with the money in 1882.

Norwalk's prosperity was evident in the 1890s with the construction of a number of fine homes that were located in the middle of orchards, farms and dairies.

Norwalk was also the home of some of the largest sugar beet farms in all of Southern California during this era.

Forty-seven servicemen were killed, as was a civilian 23-year-old woman on the ground who was hit by falling debris.

[15] Today it houses the Gilbert Sproul Museum which covers Norwalk history through artifacts, photos, documents and other interpretive elements.

[18] According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 25.243 km2 (10 sq mi).

Norwalk is bordered by Downey to the northwest, Bellflower to the southwest, Cerritos and Artesia to the south, and Santa Fe Springs and Whittier to the north and east.

The racial makeup of Norwalk was 52,089 (49.4%) White (12.3% Non-Hispanic White),[42] 4,593 (4.4%) African American, 1,213 (1.1%) Native American, 12,700 (12.0%) Asian (5.3% Filipino, 2.5% Korean, 0.9% Chinese, 0.8% Indian, 0.8% Vietnamese, 0.6% Cambodian, 0.3% Thai, 0.3% Japanese), 431 (0.4%) Pacific Islander, 29,954 (28.4%) from other races, and 4,569 (4.3%) from two or more races.

During 2009–2013, Norwalk had a median household income of $60,770, with 12.9% of the population living below the federal poverty line.

Every two years, Council members are elected by the citizens of Norwalk to serve four-year, overlapping terms.

Norwalk is a contract city, in which the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department provides police services.

It maintains its own station, which also provides police services to La Mirada and unincorporated South Whittier.

There are approximately 4.1 million registered voters, and 5 thousand voting precincts established for countywide elections.

The office issues approximately 75,000 marriage licenses and processes 125,000 fictitious business name filings annually.

The office processes 2 million real and personal property documents and 750,000 birth, death and marriage records annually and services approximately 2,000 customers daily.

[45] In the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors, Norwalk is in the Fourth District, represented by Janice Hahn.

[51][52] The Southeast District of the Los Angeles County Superior Court is located in Norwalk.

Six bus lines operate in Norwalk and adjacent cities, including Artesia, Bellflower, Cerritos, La Mirada and Whittier.

Norwalk Transit Buses make connections with Los Angeles Metro Rail C Line from Route 2 and Metrolink from Route 7[54] Long Beach Transit provides service to the Metro C Line Station via Studebaker Road from Long Beach.

The Los Angeles MTA ("Metro") provides both bus and rail service from Norwalk.

Express routes also connect to Disneyland, El Monte Bus Station, Long Beach and downtown Los Angeles.