In 1810, the Spanish governor of California granted Rancho Santiago de Santa Ana to José Antonio Yorba.

Following the Mexican War of Independence, the Yorba family rancho was enlarged, becoming one of the largest and most valuable in the region and home to a diverse Californio community.

In 1810, the first year of the Mexican War of Independence, Jose Antonio Yorba, a sergeant of the Spanish army, was granted land that he called Rancho Santiago de Santa Ana.

After the Mexican-American War ended in 1848, Alta California became part of the United States and American settlers arrived in this area.

[14][15] Claimed in 1869 by Kentuckian William H. Spurgeon on land obtained from the descendants of Jose Antonio Yorba, Santa Ana was incorporated as a city in 1886 with a population of 2000 and in 1889 became the seat of the newly formed Orange County.

In 1887, the California Central Railway (which became a subsidiary of the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway the following year) broke the Southern Pacific's local monopoly on rail travel, offering service between Los Angeles and San Diego by way of Santa Ana as a major intermediate station.

In 1890, whites made up 71 percent of the city's population, most of whom migrated to Santa Ana from confederate states following the American Civil War in search of real estate ventures and other economic opportunities.

The base was responsible for continued population growth in Santa Ana and the rest of Orange County as many veterans moved to the area to raise families after the end of the war.

[16] In 1958, the Honer Plaza and Bullock's Fashion Square malls opened and would supplant Downtown Santa Ana, with its department stores such as Rankin's, Ward's, Penney's and Buffums.

[22] Since the 1980s, Santa Ana has been characterized by an effort to revitalize the downtown area which had declined in influence, even as it had become a dynamic commercial and entertainment center for working-class Latinos.

Despite strong Latino political representation, gentrification efforts have increasingly displaced the Mexican immigrant presence in the downtown area of the city in favor of outsiders.

Several historic homes dating from the late 1800s can be found as well, and their preservation is a key issue as development of the downtown area continues.

[27] North of downtown is the "Midtown" district along Main St., home to entertainment destinations such as the Bowers Museum, MainPlace Mall, and the Discovery Science Center.

Also on the east side of the city is the Santa Ana Zoo, notable for its collection of monkeys and species from South and Central America.

South Coast Plaza, a major shopping center, is the primary destination of this area, which also contains several high-rise office and apartment buildings.

It extends from downtown Santa Ana southwards on Main Street to the South Coast Metro area.

According to the city's 2024 Annual Comprehensive Financial Report,[62] the top employers in the city are: Other large employers include Western Medical Center, TTM Technologies, MSC Software Corp, and Sterns Learning Inc.[60] The Bowers Museum is art and history museum started in the 1930s with a large collection of fine art and artifacts from around the world and several traveling exhibits each year.

Santa Ana has several wall paintings and murals depicting local history, community events and cultural diversity in Orange County.

Greenville, a former rural part of Santa Ana, has buildings over a century old, but industrial complexes have replaced the agricultural fields once surrounding the town.

The Disneyland and Knott's Berry Farm amusement parks are located northwest of Santa Ana, several kilometers away.

The Dons of Santa Ana College are one of the most successful soccer teams in the state of California, and is a frequent top finisher, statewide.

It voted in favor of Proposition 8—California's amendment defining marriage in the state as a legal union between a man and a woman—by 61.9%, above the county's average of 57.7%.

In September 2005 the Orange County Campus of International School of Los Angeles (LILA) moved to Santa Ana.

Career Networks Institute College, a post-secondary occupational learning center for allied health, is also based in the city.

The Santa Ana Freeway (Interstate 5) heads north to Los Angeles, and south towards Southern Orange County and San Diego.

The Garden Grove Freeway (State Route 22) runs along near Santa Ana's northern border, connecting Long Beach to the west and the City of Orange to the east.

Greyhound Lines is the largest bus transportation service in Santa Ana, and serves the continental United States and Canada.

Public transit bus service is available via the Orange County Transportation Authority (OCTA) and is mainly focused on busses and freeways.

A 4.15-mile OCTA light rail line running between Santa Ana and Garden Grove, the OC Streetcar, is currently under construction and planned to enter service in 2024.

[citation needed] Law enforcement is provided by the Santa Ana Police Department from three stations throughout the city.