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THE
HISTORY
Had
the water tasted better and a railroad materialized,
Yorba Linda would have followed a different path.
In
1888, a group of promoters attempted to found
the town of Carlton on 400 acres in what is now
northern Yorba Linda. They advertised nationwide,
hoping to lure entrepreneurs seeking land near
a railroad and a water supply for agriculture.
Not one knows exactly how many people gambled
on the new township, but one thing is sure: It
didn't last long. When the water turned brackish
and the railroad lines were not built. People
fled. Some reports had the town deserted by 1896.
Some people lost all they had.
So
instead of a center of agriculture and industry
called Carlton, the area that became Yorba Linda
grew as a peaceful area for families - families
such as the first landholders, the Yorbas, and
those moving to the city today.
The
land on which the city sprung originally belonged
to Bernardo Yorba who was granted the land by
the Mexican government in the 1830s. Yorba was
a farmer who worked the land and raised his 20
children in the area.
The
land eventually passed on to other family members,
and Porfirio Yorba sold it in 1907. After changing
hands another three times, the Yorba land turned
over to the Janss Investment Co. of Los Angeles,
which completed plans for development in 1909.
The original town was smaller than today; much
of the eastern portion of Yorba Linda has been
annexed through the years.
The
Janss Co. developed Yorba Linda as a family community.
Indeed, every property deed contained a condition
prohibiting owners from selling alcoholic beverages
on the property. If they did, the land would revert
to the Janss Co. That rule remained until a 1933
US constitutional amendment repealed Prohibition.
Yorba
Linda has had a development boom since residents
voted to incorporate as Orange County's 25th city
in 1967.
One
of the early families was the Nixons. Frank and
Hannah Nixon and their son, Harold, settled in
a Yorba Linda Boulevard home in 1912. On Jan.
9, 1913, their second son, Richard, was born.
The Yorba Linda Boulevard home is marked by a
sign in tribute to Richard M. Nixon, the 37th
US president.
The Richard Nixon Library & Birthplace opened
its doors on July 19, 1990 with celebration, fanfare
and more than 50,000 friends and well wishers
including Presidents Nixon, Bush, Reagan and Ford
and their First Ladies
Historical
Sites:
Susanna
Bixby Bryant Ranch House and Museum -
5700 Susanna Bryant Drive
One of the last remaining examples of early California
Ranch houses dating back to the 1800s. This building
now serves as the site for the Yorba Linda Heritage
Museum where visitors can glimpse some of Yorba
Linda's unique heritage.
Open Sunday: 1:00 - 4:00 pm
Yorba
Cemetery - 6749 Parkwood Ct.
The Yorbas were pioneers in Orange County when
California was first settled by the Spanish. Many
of the family members and other county pioneers
are buried in the cemetery.
DON
BERNARDO YORBA RANCHHOUSE SITE - NE corner
of Esperanza Rd and Echo Hill Ln, Yorba Linda
Here Don Bernardo Yorba created the greatest rancho
of California's Golden Age, combining the Santa
Ana Grant awarded to his father by the King of
Spain in 1810 and lands granted to him by Governor
José Figueroa in 1834. He was the third son of
José Antonio Yorba, who came with Don Gaspar de
Portolá in 1769 to establish California's first
family.
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