On November 1, 1776, Mission San Juan Capistrano became the area's first permanent European settlement in Alta California, New Spain.

Yorba's great rancho included the lands where the cities of Olive, Orange, El Modena, Villa Park, Santa Ana, Tustin, Costa Mesa and Newport Beach stand today.

[citation needed] After the Mexican–American War, Alta California was ceded to the United States by Mexico with the signing of the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo in 1848, and though many Californios lost titles to their lands in the aftermath, Grijalva's descendants retained ownership through marriages to Anglo-Americans.

Glassell needed a spot he could irrigate, bringing water down from the Santa Ana Canyon and the quality of the soil may have influenced his choice.

In the book, Orange, The City 'Round The Plaza by local historian Phil Brigandi, it states, "In 1873 the town had grown large enough to require a post office, so an application was sent to Washington.

[10] The town experienced its first growth spurt during the last decade of the 19th century (as did many of the surrounding communities), thanks to ever-increasing demands for California-grown citrus fruits, a period some refer to as the "Orange Era".

Southern California's real estate "boom" of 1886–1888, fueled by railroad rate wars, also contributed to a marked increase in population.

Like most cities in Orange County, agriculture formed the backbone of the local economy, and growth thereafter was slow and steady until the 1950s, when a second real estate boom spurred development.

Inspired by the development of a region-wide freeway system which connected Los Angeles' urban center with outlying areas like Orange, large tracts of housing were developed from the 1950s to the early 1970s and continues today, albeit at a much slower pace, at the eastern edge of the city.

Southern California is well known for year-round pleasant weather: The period of April through November is warm and dry with average high temperatures of 74 to 84 °F (23 to 29 °C) and lows of 52 to 64 °F (11 to 18 °C).

The Orange County area averages 15 in (380 mm) of precipitation annually, which mainly occurs during the winter and spring (November thru April) with generally light rain showers, but sometimes as heavy rainfall and thunderstorms.

It is a vibrant commercial district, containing Orange County's oldest operating bank and many dining and retail amenities.

[46] On March 31, 2021, four people were killed and two more were injured in a mass shooting at an office complex along Lincoln Avenue in north Orange.

[citation needed] The Woman's Club of Orange, organized in 1915, holds an annual flower show.

In the city proper: the SoCal A's of the Southern California Collegiate Baseball Association play in Athletic (or Richland) Field.

[77] Orange remains a somewhat conservative city in recent years; however, in 2016, Hillary Clinton defeated Donald Trump by 1,463 votes (2.7%).

One year later, the Santa Ana and Orange Motor Road Company purchased the line, using a steam "dummy" car and a single gasoline motorcar as its means of conveyance.

In 1906, Henry E. Huntington acquired the company under the auspices of the Los Angeles Inter-Urban Railway and electrified the line.

Passenger service over the new line operated by Huntington's Pacific Electric Railway began on June 8, 1914, originating at the PE's depot on Lemon Street.

The route provided freight service to the local citrus growers, in direct competition with the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway.

The Santa Fe, under its affiliate the Southern California Railway, laid its first tracks through Orange in 1886, and established its first depot the following year.

The route would become part of the railroad's famous "Surf Line", and by 1925, 16 daily passenger trains (the Santa Fe's San Diegan) made stops in Orange.

During peak growing seasons, as many as 48 carloads of citrus fruits, olives, and walnuts were shipped daily from the Orange depot as well.

The former Santa Fe mainline links the cities of Los Angeles, Riverside, and San Diego via a junction north of the station.

John Wayne Airport (SNA), in nearby Santa Ana, provides daily scheduled airline service for the area.

Law enforcement is provided by the Orange Police Department (OPD), which covers a jurisdictional area of roughly 27 sq mi (70 km2).

OPD polices through three divisions; the Field Services Division, which consists of Patrol, Traffic Bureau, Communications Center, Crime Analysis, Bike Unit and H.E.A.R.T (Homeless Education and Resource Team);[80] the Investigative Services Division, which consists of Crimes Against Person, Property and Economic Crimes, Gang Unit and the Special Investigations Unit;[81] and finally the Support Services Division, which consists of Fiscal Affairs, Information Technology, Timekeeping, Personnel and Training, Crime Prevention/Analysis Unit, Volunteer Program, CERT, Facility and Fleet Services.

[84] The department employs three battalion chiefs, which each manage a team of three shifts of 35 firefighters, each cross trained as an emergency medical technician.