In the 115 years between the colonization of Indigenous land and the establishment of the county of Orange in 1889, the landscape was transformed by agriculture, industry and urban settlement. Even while large tracts of ranch land dominated the county, a new built environment was being constructed. Our first webinar in a new three-part series called Of All Places, invites the public to learn about the buildings and landscapes of Orange County in the period of its founding in the late 19th century. Some questions to be addressed by our speakers include: What social and economic factors contributed to the dramatic urban development of this period? What were the dominant architectural styles and building types? What is left of the 19th century built environment in our oldest cities, such as Tustin?

The webinar is free but we ask you to register in advance on Eventbrite at:

Of All Places: Conversations about historic preservation in Orange County is a three-part webinar series hosted by Preserve Orange County. The series will look at the biggest threats to the preservation of heritage buildings and landscapes; will consider examples of preservation successes; and will begin with an overview of the historic built environment of the county in the period of its formation in the late 19th century.

The Building of Orange County — SPEAKERS

Benjamin Jenkins, MLIS, Ph.D., formerly Associate Professor of History and Archivist at the University of La Verne in La Verne, California, is Archivist for the National Archives and Records Administration at the George W. Bush Presidential Center in Dallas. He received his Ph.D. in Public History at the University of California, Riverside, in 2016. His most recent book is Octopus’s Garden: How Railroads and Citrus Transformed Southern California.

Andrew Goodrich, AICP, is a Los Angeles-based architectural historian and historic preservation planner. He completed his undergraduate studies at the University of California San Diego, and received graduate degrees in Planning and Heritage Conservation from the University of Southern California. Since 2013 he has been with Architectural Resources Group, a historic preservation architecture and planning firm, where he has had the pleasure of working on a variety of preservation planning projects in communities throughout Southern California.

Guy Ball is an Orange County researcher and historian who has written four books on the local history of Tustin and Santa Ana, and has held roles as editor and publisher for several books produced by the Santa Ana and Tustin historical societies. Guy was a long-time board member of the Orange County Historical Society and Santa Ana Historic Preservation Society and is currently web master and historical content creator for the TustinHistory.com website. A former technical writer by trade, Guy enjoys sharing historical information and vintage photos to interest the general public in local history. His most recent book is City Walk: All About Tustin in 1895.