Rancho Las Bolsas was a land grant under Mexican governance that primarily dealt in cattle ranching in the central Orange County floodplains. The land had originally belonged to the indigenous Tongva and Acjachemem people,[7] but featured displacement under the Spanish colonization and Mexican land grants.[8]
Garden Grove was founded byAlonzo Cook in 1874. A school district andMethodist church were organized that year. It remained a small rural crossroads and farming community until the arrival of the Pacific Electric Railroad in 1905. The rail connection helped the town prosper with the influx of tourists, visitors and eventually settlers,[9] and it was noted for its crops oforanges,walnuts,chili peppers and laterstrawberries.[10]
In 1933, much of the town's central business district was destroyed by theLong Beach earthquake, and one person was killed at the high school. The post-World War II boom led to rapid development, and Garden Grove was incorporated as a city in 1956 with about 44,000 residents.[11]
In 1956,Orange County Plaza (now The Promenade) was opened at Chapman and Brookhurst, and upon its expansion in 1959, it had 60 stores, including aJ. C. Penney, 2 variety stores and 2 supermarkets, and billed itself as both the largest and the first regional shopping center in Orange County.[12][13][14]
During the 1970s, Korean Americans began to move into Garden Grove in several waves of migration.[8] It eventually turned the area into "Little Seoul" (also referred to asKorea Town) and grew to be the second largest Korean business district on the west coast. Since its initial establishment, the Korean American population has expanded to other nearby cities like Fullerton and Irvine, but it claims to have the oldest "Little Seoul" in Orange County.
Garden Grove has a rugged set of boundaries with manypanhandles. TheWest Garden Grove neighborhood is west ofBeach Boulevard and is largely separated from the rest of Garden Grove by the city ofStanton, with a small bridge of jurisdiction linking the two along Garden Grove Boulevard. A panhandle in the southern part of the town's borders situated betweenWestminster's Ward Street to the west andSanta Ana's Euclid Street to the east creates a small border with the city ofFountain Valley. Other neighboring cities includeCypress andAnaheim to the north,Orange to the east, and the cities ofSeal Beach andLos Alamitos to the west.[15]
According to theUnited States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 46.5 km2 (18.0 sq mi), 0.10% of which is water.
Garden Grove first appeared as an unincorporated place in the1950 U.S. census;[25] and after incorporation, as a city in the1960 U.S. census.[26] Prior to 1950, it was part of unincorporated Anaheim Township (pop 26,097 in 1940).[24]
Garden Grove, California – Racial and ethnic composition Note: the US Census treats Hispanic/Latino as an ethnic category. This table excludes Latinos from the racial categories and assigns them to a separate category. Hispanics/Latinos may be of any race.
The census reported that 98.8% of the population lived in households, 0.8% lived in non-institutionalized group quarters, and 0.3% were institutionalized.[37]
There were 47,362 households, out of which 39.3% included children under the age of 18, 53.3% were married-couple households, 5.7% werecohabiting couple households, 24.8% had a female householder with no partner present, and 16.2% had a male householder with no partner present. 14.2% of households were one person, and 7.3% were one person aged 65 or older. The average household size was 3.59.[37] There were 38,030families (80.3% of all households).[38]
The age distribution was 20.9% under the age of 18, 10.0% aged 18 to 24, 26.2% aged 25 to 44, 28.2% aged 45 to 64, and 14.7% who were 65years of age or older. The median age was 39.1years. For every 100 females, there were 97.4 males.[37]
There were 48,562 housing units at an average density of 2,704.5 units per square mile (1,044.2 units/km2), of which 47,362 (97.5%) were occupied. Of these, 54.0% were owner-occupied, and 46.0% were occupied by renters.[37]
In 2023, the US Census Bureau estimated that 45.3% of the population were foreign-born. Of all people aged 5 or older, 32.1% spoke only English at home, 29.0% spokeSpanish, 1.1% spoke otherIndo-European languages, 36.8% spoke Asian or Pacific Islander languages, and 0.9% spoke other languages. Of those aged 25 or older, 75.4% were high school graduates and 24.9% had a bachelor's degree.[39]
The median household income was $90,166, and theper capita income was $32,387. About 9.4% of families and 12.2% of the population were below the poverty line.[40]
The2010 United States census[41] reported that Garden Grove had a population of 170,883. The population density was 9,515.3 inhabitants per square mile (3,673.9/km2). The racial makeup of Garden Grove was 68,149 (39.9%)White, 2,155 (1.3%)Black, 983 (0.6%)Native American, 63,451 (37.1%)Asian, 1,110 (0.6%)Pacific Islander, 28,916 (16.9%) fromother races, and 6,119 (3.6%) from two or more races.Hispanic or Latino of any race were 63,079 persons (36.9%).Non-Hispanic whites were 22.6% of the population,[42] down from 90.6% in 1970.[43]Vietnamese Americans numbered47,331 of the population. At 27.7% this was the highest concentration of any city in the United States except for adjacentWestminster.
The census reported that 168,942 people (98.9% of the population) lived in households, 1,234 (0.7%) lived in non-institutionalized group quarters, and 707 (0.4%) were institutionalized.
There were 46,037 households, out of which 21,361 (46.4%) had children under the age of 18 living in them, 26,659 (57.9%) wereopposite-sex married couples living together, 6,866 (14.9%) had a female householder with no husband present, 3,588 (7.8%) had a male householder with no wife present. There were 2,025 (4.4%)unmarried opposite-sex partnerships, and 269 (0.6%)same-sex married couples or partnerships. 6,491 households (14.1%) were made up of individuals, and 2,842 (6.2%) had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 3.67. There were 37,113families (80.6% of all households); the average family size was 3.94.
The population was spread out, with 43,763 people (25.6%) under the age of 18, 17,383 people (10.2%) aged 18 to 24, 49,105 people (28.7%) aged 25 to 44, 42,106 people (24.6%) aged 45 to 64, and 18,526 people (10.8%) who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 35.6 years. For every 100 females, there were 99.6 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 7.7 males.
There were 47,755 housing units at an average density of 2,659.1 per square mile (1,026.7/km2), of which 26,240 (57.0%) were owner-occupied, and 19,797 (43.0%) were occupied by renters. The homeowner vacancy rate was 1.2%; the rental vacancy rate was 4.6%. 96,308 people (56.4% of the population) lived in owner-occupied housing units and 72,634 people (42.5%) lived in rental housing units.
According to the 2010 United States census, Garden Grove had a median household income of $59,988, with 15.5% of the population living below the federal poverty line.[44]
Garden Grove is home to two stage theaters, the Gem Theater and the Festival Amphitheater. The Festival Amphitheater hosts Shakespeare Orange County, which presents an annual Shakespeare Festival each summer. Both venues are owned by the City of Garden Grove, but operated by outside entities.
TheGarden Grove Playhouse used to be an active theatre, now closed down. It was operated by a non-profit group of the same name.
An annual event held over Memorial Day weekend, the Garden Grove Strawberry Festival is one of the largest community festivals in the western United States, attracting an estimated 250,000 visitors.[46][47] It began in 1958 and celebrates the city's agricultural past, which includes cultivating crops such as chili peppers, oranges, walnuts and strawberries. Part of the festivities include the cutting of the world's largeststrawberry shortcake, carnival rides, food vendors, live music, and a celebrity-filled parade.[48][49] Numerous Garden Grove organizations, including the Miss Garden Grove Scholarship Program, are part of the Memorial Day weekend festivities every year. In commemoration of Garden Grove's 50th anniversary, the city painted some of itsfire hydrants with a design that featured a strawberry, recognizing the festival as a big part of Garden Grove's history.[50][51]
Garden Grove uses acouncil-manager form of government. In July 2015, the city was sued by a resident who claimed that the longstanding at-large elections had affected the Latino vote and was in violation of theCalifornia Voting Rights Act. On January 26, 2016, the city council voted to settle the lawsuit, and therefore adopted that council members would be voted by district (six districts total) and no longer at-large; the mayor, however, will continue to be elected at-large.[53] Thecity council consists ofmayor Stephanie Klopfenstein, George S. Brietigam III, Phillip Nguyen, Cindy Ngoc Tran, Joe DoVinh, Yesenia Muneton, and Ariana Arestegui.[54] According to the city's most recent Comprehensive Annual Financial Report, the city's various funds had $206.0 million in revenues, $193.0 million in expenditures, $1,098.9 million in total assets, $251.5 million in total liabilities, and $196.3 million in cash and investments.[55]
According to theOrange County Registrar of Voters, as of May 15, 2025, Garden Grove has 94,969 registered voters.[57] Of those, 26,604 (36.56%) are registered Democrats, 21,449 (29.48%) are registered Republicans, and 21,941 (30.15%) have declined to state a political party/are independents.[58]Although DemocratKamala Harris easily won California and also won Orange County in the2016 United States Senate election, DemocratLoretta Sanchez easily won Garden Grove by a 67%–33% margin, her widest margin of victory for any city in Orange County.[59]
The Uniform Crime Report (UCR), collected annually by the FBI, compiles police statistics from local and state law enforcement agencies across the nation. The UCR records Part I and Part II crimes. Part I crimes become known to law enforcement and are considered the most serious crimes including homicide, rape, robbery, aggravated assault, burglary, larceny, motor vehicle theft, and arson. Part II crimes only include arrest data.[60] The 2023 UCR Data for Garden Grove is listed below:
King of Kings Christian Academy is an accredited private school (preK–8th grade) associated with theWisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod (WELS) in Garden Grove.[63]
TheOC Streetcar is planned to terminate at Harbor Transit Center at the intersection of Harbor Boulevard and Westminster Avenue. A future stop at the Willowick golf course has also been proposed.[68]
The Garden Grove Police Department provides law enforcement, with mutual aid assistance offered at times by theAnaheim Police Department's helicopter and theOrange County Sheriff's Department Air Unit.
In August 2019, the city of Garden Grove entered into a 10-year contract with theOrange County Fire Authority (OCFA) for fire and rescue services, and merged all existing Garden Grove Fire Department personnel and equipment into the OCFA.[69]
Water in Garden Grove is supplied by the City of Garden Grove Water Services Division, which sources its water from theMetropolitan Water District of Southern California, importing water from the State Water Project in Northern California and the Colorado River Aqueduct. Additionally, groundwater is supplied by 12 wells tapped into an underground reservoir managed by the Orange County Water District.[70]
Curt Pringle, former State Assemblyman, Speaker of the California State Assembly and former mayor ofAnaheim
Paul Jeffrey Watford, Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, Assumed office May 22, 2012, born in Garden Grove August 25, 1967
^"Home". King of Kings Lutheran School in Garden Grove, CA.
^"Home". Asahi Gakuen. RetrievedJuly 15, 2024.オレンジ校 La Quinta High School
^"Orange". Asahi Gakuen. Archived fromthe original on December 16, 2001. RetrievedJuly 16, 2024.BOLSA GRANDE HIGH SCHOOL 9401 Westminster Ave., CA 92644
^"オレンジ校." Asahi Gakuen. Retrieved on March 30, 2014. "SANTIAGO HIGH SCHOOL 12342 Trask Ave., Garden Grove, CA.92843 "
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