In 1880 the region that is now Orange County still belonged to Los Angeles County. The population was growing rapidly with the sprouting of many new small towns. Anaheim and Santa Ana were already important population centers. It has been said that Santa Ana was second only to Los Angeles in importance. However, the residents of the southern part of then Los Angeles County were frustrated with their county government. For instance, there was only one bridge that crossed the mighty Santa Ana River, which just wouldn’t do because it was that river that separated Anaheim and Santa Ana. Also, residents of Orange County disliked making the long trek to Los Angeles to carry out official business. Many of the county offices were held by Los Angelinos, and these residents felt they were not getting the attention they deserved, so they proposed to form a new county. After much bureaucratic red tape, the State Legislature approved the formation of the new county of Orange, in 1889. The residents of the new county voted on the new county seat, a title competed by both Anaheim and Santa Ana. The race was close, but in the end Santa Ana was named the new seat. At the time of the formation of the new county, there were only three incorporated cities: Anaheim (1878), Santa Ana (1886), and Orange (1888).

The famous Red Cars of Southern California helped encourage growth in the newly formed county of Orange. The trolleys made the trip to jobs in Los Angeles shorter and more convenient. The first line to be built in Orange County came from a split in the Long Beach Line. It went along the coastline through Seal Beach, Huntington Beach, and terminating at Newport Beach (Balboa Peninsula). This line opened through Huntington Beach in 1904, and was finished to Newport Beach in 1906. The second line went from the split at the Watts Towers to Santa Ana, which was built around the same time as the Newport Beach line. The third and final line was built in North Orange County, through Fullerton and ending in Yorba Linda. In fact, the line ran through what was Richard Nixon’s childhood backyard in the early part of this century.

As the Railroad Barons were rapidly building their tracks, a new mode of transportation became prominent in American society. It was the automobile. Roads in Orange County at the turn of the century were pretty dusty and unimproved. County drivers demanded upgrades in the road infrastructure, and it came with the pavement of the “State Route.” It connected Santa Ana with Los Angeles. It was funded by the State of California and travels along the route of today’s Interstate 5 from Santa Ana, then along Harbor Blvd., and Whittier Blvd. (today’s SR-72). Other important roads to be paved included Pacific Coast Highway. The road was nearly complete by the late 1910’s, with the exception of the length between Corona Del Mar and Laguna Beach, which was completed in 1925.

Orange County was home to pioneer aviators as well. Glenn Martin accomplished his first flight on the dawn of August 1, 1909. This flight covered 100 feet (Walker, 1989:119). Martin also made the first water-to-water flight in the world when he flew his modified plane from Newport Beach to Catalina Island. This flight in May 1912 also broke records: the longest flight over water (79 minutes) and the fastest over water (53 mph). Unrelated to Glenn, Eddie Martin also became a great figure in Orange County aviation history. In 1923 Martin began flying passengers out of land owned by James Irvine. Martin eventually leased 80 acres from Irvine and formed the Eddie Martin Airport and flying school. At the end of World War II, the Santa Ana Army Air Base (SAAAB) was no longer needed by the military and was closed. The buildings soon became used as the campuses for Orange Coast and Santa Ana Junior Colleges. The many servicemen who were trained and stationed at SAAAB came to enjoy the wonderful air and climate of the Orange County region. So after the war, these servicemen brought their families to Orange County to start their new lives. A rapid increase in city population occurred. The growth can be seen clearly in Garden Grove. The city only incorporated in 1956 with a population of 46,000. By 1962, the population was nearly 130,000. In a span of only 37 years, the population of Orange County multiplied tenfold, from roughly 200,000 in 1950 to more than 2,000,000 in 1987 (Kling, Poster, and Olin, 1991:2).

The Red Cars promoted growth in Orange County during the first half of this century. However, with the increase of automobile traffic competing with the Red Car’s right of way, the trolleys slowly began to fall out of use. Ridership by the 1940’s declined rapidly and by 1950 service was stopped on the last remaining Orange County lines to Santa Ana and Huntington Beach. The last Red Car pulled into Long Beach in 1961. It was the end of the trolley era and the beginning of the freeway era. This tool aided the growth of Orange County during the post-war years. In the early 1950’s, US Route 101 was upgraded to a four-lane freeway, providing quick and easy access from Santa Ana and Anaheim to Los Angeles. This allowed workers to be able to live farther away from the central city than was previously possible. After the Eisenhower Interstate Highways Act of 1956, US Route 101 was re-signed as Interstate 5, which stretched from San Diego to the Canadian Border. Another early freeway was US Route 91, resigned CA-91, the Riverside Freeway. Built in the mid-1950’s and finished in 1960, the freeway went from the Santa Ana Freeway (US-101, I-5) to about Imperial Highway. Other freeways built in the 50’s include the Costa Mesa Freeway (also known as the Newport Beach Freeway, CA-55), finished in 1962. The Garden Grove Freeway (CA-22) was built in the early 1960’s, and served to alleviate traffic on Garden Grove Blvd., was finished in 1967. It is one of the few freeways in the Southland that has not undergone lane additions since it was built. The San Diego Freeway (I-405) was built from about 1964-1968 in Orange County. The progress went from north to south. Throughout this time of mass freeway building, the Riverside/Artesia Freeway (CA-91) was extended from the Santa Ana Freeway (I-5) to the Harbor Freeway (I-110, formerly CA-11 and US-6) in the late 60’s. There was much less freeway building in the 1970’s, due in most part to environmental concerns as well as lack of funds. However, the Orange Freeway (CA-57) was completed in 1976, and the Corona del Mar Freeway (CA-73) was completed in 1979 (the free part, up to MacArthur Blvd.).