Anaheim

Anaheim is a city in northern Orange County, California, covering 50 square miles (130 square kilometers) and including business districts, residential zones, industrial parks, and green spaces. The municipality contains several distinct areas, including recreation corridors along the Santa Ana River, dense neighborhoods near downtown, and sprawling commercial zones to the east.

German immigrant families founded the settlement in 1857 as a wine-growing agricultural colony and named it after the Santa Ana River. The opening of Disneyland in 1955 transformed the small farming area into an urban center that drew millions of visitors and rapidly changed the surrounding landscape.

The Packing District brings together dozens of food stalls, bars, and performance spaces in a former citrus warehouse, where locals gather after work. Families from the surrounding neighborhoods come here for dinner, while groups of friends wander between vendors and sample different dishes.

The Anaheim Regional Transportation Intermodal Center downtown provides connections to local buses, regional trains, and major highways leading to Los Angeles, San Diego, and the inland areas. The city is easiest to explore by car, as public transit remains limited outside the main corridors.

The Anaheim Colony Historic District preserves several buildings from the German founding era, including wine cellars and farmhouses from the 1800s scattered among modern residential blocks. The Anaheim Canyon to the east holds more than a thousand manufacturing and technology companies, forming one of the largest industrial corridors in Southern California.

Location: Orange County

Inception: 1857

Shares border with: Fullerton, Santa Ana

Website: https://anaheim.net

GPS coordinates: 33.83611,-117.88972

Latest update: December 3, 2025 07:11