Huntington Beach, CA

This week's featured Orange County city is Huntington Beach. Here's a little history:

The area of Huntington Beach was originally occupied by the Tongva people, also known as Gabrielinos, whose lands stretched from what is now Topanga Canyon through Aliso Creek in Laguna Beach.  European settlement can be traced to Spanish soldier, Manuel Nieto, who in 1784 received a Spanish land grant of 300,000 acres, which he named Rancho Los Nietos, as a reward for his military service.  The Stearns Rancho Company ran cattle and horses and raised barley crops on what is now the city of HB.  In the early 1800’s a portion of property was sold to Col. Robert Northam, who raised and sold barley to surrounding ranchers.  By 1889, the city was called Shell Beach and consisted of a small group of settlers.  In 1901, Shell Beach was changed to Pacific City when P.A. Stanton formed a local syndicate and purchased 40 acres along the beach with 20 acres on each side of Main Street.  Stanton’s dream was to build a town on the Pacific Coast which would rival Atlantic City on the East Coast.

Photo Credit: http://www.tripadvisor.com/Tourism-g32513-Huntington_Beach_California-Vacations.html 

Source: http://huntingtonbeachca.gov/about/history/

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