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City of Fountain Valley

History

The marsh that has blossomed into Fountain Valley once was known as Gospel Swamp, where cattle grazed and itinerant preachers set up tents on small islands.

But a severe drought in the late 1870's turned the marsh - fed by the Santa Ana River - into rich farmland, blessed with natural springs and artesian wells, according to a city history written by Jim Dick, a member of the Fountain Valley Historical Society.

Abel Stearns, a Massachusetts investor, sold off large churnks of the fertile land to wheat, sugar beet, barley and lima-bean farmers, according to the historical society.

By the late 1890s, the area had a blacksmitth shop, the Fountain Valley School, a general store and a post office. When pioneer James T. Talbert formed a drainage district in 1903 that channeled the wandering Santa Ana River, land values jumped from $10 to $500 an acre.

At the turn of the century, the population was 20,000. By 1920, there were 61,000 area residents, and two small villages were forming.

During the 1930s large farms gave way to truck farming, mostly by Japanese-American farmers, in the community then known as Talbert.

The 1950s brough freeways and talk of incorporation to fend off possible annexation to the cities of Santa Ana or Garden Grove. Supporters of an independent city favored a return to what they considered the town's original name - Fountain Vallley, after the old school.

In June 1957, 160 voters overwhelmingly supported incorporation, and Fountain Valley became Orange County's 21st city. The first City Council, made up primarily of farmers, pledged to keep the new city a farming community. But in the early 1960s the new San Diego (I-405) Freeway sliced the community in half, driving up land values and luring housing developers.

As development rapidly gobbles up the few remaining chunks of farmland, some residents have tried to stem the tide. However, a move to halt the planned 140-acre Southpark commercial and office development failed when voters overwhelmingly approved the complex in a 1987 special election.

Presently, the city's physical growth is approximately 92% with the projected total population expected to peak at 58,000.

Population (year 2000): 54,978, Est. population in July 2004: 56,352 (+2.5% change)
Males: 26,872 (48.9%), Females: 28,106 (51.1%)

Elevation: 28 feet

County: Orange

Land area: 8.9 square miles

Zip codes: 92708.

Median resident age: 38.1 years
Median household income: $69,734 (year 2000)
Median house value: $289,500 (year 2000)

New: Fountain Valley, CA residents, houses, and apartments details

Races in Fountain Valley:

Ancestries: German (13.8%), English (10.6%), Irish (9.6%), Italian (5.4%), United States (4.5%), French (2.9%).