Old Orange County Courthouse (California)

The Old Orange County Courthouse, at one point also known as the Santa Ana County Courthouse, is a Romanesque Revival building that was opened in September 1901 and is located in Santa Ana's Historic Downtown District on Civic Center and Broadway streets. The Old Orange County Courthouse is officially recognized as California Historical Landmark No. 837 and is also on the National Register of Historic Places.

Orange County Courthouse
U.S. National Register of Historic Places
California Historical Landmark No. 837[1]
Old Orange County Courthouse - Front View
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Location	211 W. Santa Ana Blvd Santa Ana, California
Coordinates	33°45′01″N 117°52′09″W
Area	1.2 acres (0.49 ha)
Built	1900
Architect	C. L. Strange
Architectural style	Romanesque Revival
NRHP reference No.	77000321[2]
CHISL No.	837[1]
Added to NRHP	August 29, 1977

History

The city of Santa Ana was established in 1869 by William Spurgeon on 74.27 acres (300,600 m²) of land purchased from the old Spanish land grant, Rancho Santiago de Santa Ana. Orange County, California, was formed in 1889 by William Spurgeon and James McFadden and Santa Ana was chosen as the county seat of government because of its larger growth as a town over surrounding towns, especially Orange.

Museum

The courthouse now stands as a museum and has been used as a favorite location for different movies and television shows. It features as the exterior of Briarcliff Manor in American Horror Story: Asylum. In 1949 the courthouse exterior and interior were used for location filming for The File on Thelma Jordan.^[3]

Gallery

• 
  Old Orange County Courthouse - Front View
• 
  Old Orange County Courthouse - Back View

See also

• Downtown Santa Ana Historic Districts
• Santa Ana, California
• National Register of Historic Places listings in Orange County, California

References

1. "Orange County's Original Courthouse". Office of Historic Preservation, California State Parks. Retrieved 2012-10-11.
2. "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. July 9, 2010.
3. "The File on Thelma Jordan (1950)". AFI Catalog. American Film Institute. 2019. Retrieved February 16, 2020.

Further reading

• McDevitt, Ray (2001). Courthouses of California: an Illustrated History. Berkeley, CA: California Historical Society. p. 365. ISBN 1-890771-49-X.

External links

• Orange County Parks: Old Orange County Courthouse
• Santa Ana Historical Preservation Society