The County of Orange, Center of Southern California

In November, 1999 I published a book, The County of Orange, Center of Southern California which lead me to begin

OC The Place and VisitThePlace.com. From the back cover written 10 years ago:
Welcome to the County of Orange, Center of Southern California. Make a selection of over 460 photographs from more than 60 top commercial photographers; add text by David Lansing, writer for Sunset, National Geographic, and the Times of Orange County; produce with high-quality, state-of-the-art printing; and assemble into a 100-page visual monograph that just might do justice to the beauty and elements of the County of Orange. Now you can begin your tour of new images and fond memories.

The County of Orange is Disneyland and Knott's Berry Farm, Newport and Laguna Beach, Old Towne Orange and Surf City, USA. The Matterhorn, Old West ghost town, Balboa Fun Zone, The Register, mission ruins, ocean piers, luxury yachts, surfers--these are all images that come readily to mind when you think of the Big Orange.

But the County of Orange is also Little Saigon and the Santa Ana Arts District, Silverado Canyon and Cook's Corner, historic Fullerton and the Bolsa Chica Ecological Reserve. There are thousands of acres of wooded parklands, adobe houses built before California was even a state, meadows bursting with wildflowers and wildlife, and a President's birthplace.

The County of Orange, Center of Southern California, takes you on a visual guide through one of the most exciting, diverse metropolises in the world, a region with a surprising array of natural beauty as well as a prosperous economic powerhouse that makes its nearly 3 million residents some of the wealthiest in the United States. As you turn the pages in this fresh look at the heart of Southern California, you'll find many of the expected highlights. But like those who have lived here for generations, you'll also find a number of surprises with what some have called the greatest sociological experiment in diversity in the nation.

This book is now 10 years old and it still reflects The OC as it is today. Click here and you can browse it online then compare this with what you see today.

I hope you enjoy this sampling of images that are some of my favorites.

Lookout point, Corona del Mar, California

Walt Disney in View Liner, 1955 the year Disneyland opened

Walter and Cordelia Knott at original berry stand, with Model T Ford, circa 1928

In the barrel at Huntington Beach Pier

Newport Bay and Balboa Pier, Newport Beach

Looking south over Abalone Point, Irvine Cove, Emerald Bay, Cresent Bay, to Laguna Beach

Crystal Cove State Park to Abalone Point

Plein-Air Painters, Laguna Canyon, Laguna Beach

Rock fishing off Victoria Beach, Laguna Beach

Skimboarders at Aliso Creek County Beach Park, Laguna Beach

9th Street Beach, South Laguna Beach

The Headlands at Dana Point, note outline of Indian face in rocks