Anaheim, CA news and local guide

In 1857 fifty German-American families from San Francisco, whose roots were in Rothenburg ob der Tauber in Bavaria, bought about 1,165 acres from Ontiveros for $2 an acre to grow grapes. They formed the Anaheim Vineyard Company, headed by George Hansen, at $750 a share, and named the town Annaheim, "home by the Santa Ana River," later spelled Anaheim. Spanish-speaking neighbors called it Campo Aleman. It is recorded as the oldest American-founded city in Orange County. Most settlers were mechanics and craftsmen with no winemaking experience. The first building on the 40-acre town center was a school. The Anaheim Gazette began in 1870, and the town was incorporated on March 18, 1876. The settlers recruited thirty Chinese laborers from San Francisco, each paid with a town lot, and those lots became Anaheim's Chinatown. Chinese workers planted hundreds of thousands of vines, dug the sixteen-mile Cajon Canal and built early railroads. For 25 years Anaheim was California's largest wine producer, until a disease destroyed the vines in 1884 and 1885. Walnuts, lemons and oranges took their place, helped by the railroad connection of 1887. Orange County split from Los Angeles County in 1889. Today the city is home to the Disneyland Resort. Sources Wikipedia: Anaheim, California