Category: Events – Annual

• Social hour (w/ cash bar) & Silent Auction: 5:30 p.m.

• German & American Buffet Dinner: 6:30 p.m.

• Program: 7:30 p.m.

See local history in a new light, as historian J. Eric Lynxwiler shares “How to Read a Neon Sign: Notes from the Museum of Neon Art.”  As our classic businesses disappear – from Macres Florist to drive-in theaters – their beautifully hand-crafted neon signs disappear as well. The Museum of Neon Art (MONA) was founded in 1981 to celebrate the art, craft, and history behind these signs. Lynxwiler will illuminate the good and bad of these icons of the highway.  Learn what it takes to get a sign into MONA, then take a visual journey through our streets to see the remarkable neon that remains. Lynxwiler is a long-time docent for the L.A. Conservancy and the Art Deco Society.

As a MONA board member, he saves historic signs from the wrecking ball and has guided the museum’s famed “Neon Cruise” through the streets of L.A. for nineteen years. He’s written several local history books including the new Spectacular Illumination: Neon Los Angeles, 1925-1965, with photographer Tom Zimmerman.

This dinner event is open to OCHS members and non-members alike, so bring your friends. Registration due May 31. For more info, email artsylady10@gmail.com or call (714) 707-7425 Confirmations will be made via email.

Click here for a printable flier or purchase tickets online with the PayPal link below. To Purchase tickets for members and non-members, first add the ticket for your members to the cart, then return to this page before completing your purchase and add additional non-member tickets for the remainder of your party.

Come join the Orange County Historical Society for its annual field trip excursion.  This year we are excited to have planned a Vintage Orange Food Tour through Old Towne Orange on Saturday, May 12, 2018 from 9:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m.

The tour will provide you with historic and architectural stops, delicious food samplings from a variety of restaurants, visits to distinctive one-of-a-kind shops, exclusive access to Chapman University Film School and seating at Farmer’s Market seasonal cooking demonstration. (Demo subject to change w/o notice) We will not be taking a bus, but meeting up at Ruby’s next to the Orange Train Depot.

You will be responsible for getting to the meet up location the morning of tour. Normally the tour price is $69.00 per person, but for OCHS members/non-members the cost is $45.00/$50.00 per person and includes gratuity.  We need a guarantee of 20 people to attend with a maximum limit of 40.  Early bird registration deadline is Friday, March 30, 2018 and cost of tour is $45.00 per person for OCHS members only.  After the early bird deadline, the tour cost goes up to $50.00 for OCHS members, same as non-member price.  So sign up early as space is limited!

Click here for a printable flier or purchase tickets online with the PayPal link below. To Purchase tickets for multiple people, first add the ticket for your Primary Registrant to the cart, then return to this page before completing your purchase and add additional tickets for the remainder of your party.

You will receive a confirmation of registration via email. All other pertinent information regarding the tour such as meet up location map, parking instructions etc., will be sent to you via email within two weeks of the tour date. OCHS looks forward to having a fantastic historical foodie fun time in Old Towne Orange!

June 8th marks the date for our annual dinner. This dinner event is open to OCHS members and non-members alike, so bring your friends. Disney attire welcome but not mandatory. Register by May 26th by mailing in a completed form or by using the below PayPal form.  For more information, email ochsdinner@gmail.com or call 714-707-7425. Confirmations will be made by email.

Click here for our flyer with addtional details of the event, as well as a registration form.

To register via PayPal, please use the Paypal form below. In order to mix and match ticket types, add a member ticket and select “Buy Now”, then select “Continue Shopping” on the next page. This will return you here to the OCHS homepage.  Please then add a nonmember ticket, upon which both ticket types will appear in your PayPal cart.  The number of tickets of each type can be adjusted from the cart itself

Register Today!

Click Here To Download a PDF

4328 East Chapman Avenue, Orange, CA 92869

714-639-2181

Save that date! On Friday, June 10th, the Orange County Historical Society will host our annual dinner at the beautiful and historic Moreno’s Restaurant on 4328 East Chapman Avenue in Orange.

Purchase Your Tickets Below!

Now you can purchase your tickets online using a credit card (VISA Masercard, Discover, and American Express) via our secure server. You do not need to have a PayPal account to use this option.

In order to add both OCHS member tickets and non-member tickets to the same order, please select “Continue Shopping” in the cart.  You can also select the number of each ticket type from within the cart.

For the First Time Ever!!

Board the OCHS Mystery Machine (bus) in Orange at 9:00 a.m. and join us on a tour of fascinating, often-overlooked O.C. historic sites, including little-known spots you may never be able to visit again. We can’t say where we’re going,… because it’s a MYSTERY!

But you’ll be guided by local history experts, receive a box lunch (included in the tour price), and return to Orange before dinnertime. Wear comfortable shoes, since you’ll be doing some exploring on foot. This mysterious expedition is open to OCHS members and non-members alike, so bring your friends. Confirmations and further instructions will be sent via email.

Please fill in the above fields to register your group!

In order to add both OCHS member tickets and non-member tickets to the same order, please select “Continue Shopping” in the cart.  You can also select the number of each ticket type from within the cart.

When entering Lunch Type, please input the following letters corresponding to each persons lunch selection:

H = Ham/Swiss
T = Turkey/No Cheese
V = Vegetarian/Cheese

Please input one letter per person in your group
(Example: TTV = 2 Turkey/NoCheese, and 1 Vegetarian/Cheese option)

Put another candle on the birthday cake; Orange County turns 125 years old this summer! Our fair county was born in 1889 when the southern part of Los Angeles County broke away to become Orange County.

Accordingly, OCHS’ 2014 annual dinner will be an old-fashioned birthday party, to be held on Friday, June 13 at the historic Santa Ana Ebell Clubhouse—listed in the National Register of Historic Places—on 625 N. French Street in Santa Ana. Our speakers, historians Phil Brigandi and Chris Jepsen, will present a look back at our county’s struggle for independence and more than twelve decades of growth.

The festivities will commence at 6:00 p.m. with a social/no host bar. Dinner buffet includes baron of beef, poached salmon, chicken piccata, butter parsley new potatoes, glazed carrots, baby green beans, bread and rolls, dessert, a vegetarian entrée. And of course there will be BIRTHDAY CAKE and party favors for everyone!

Attendees will enjoy a silent auction featuring items like Disneyland and Knott’s Berry Farm tickets, and much more; the “O.C. History Trivia Game,” and great old-time music from the collection of Josh McIntosh.

This event is open to OCHS members and non-members alike, so bring your friends.

Be sure to RSVP by June 3 to Lynne Yauger. Confirmation will be made by email.

Cost: $40 OCHS members; $45 non-members.

Join us for a trip into the Santa Ana Mountains through Pine Canyon to visit the ruins of the Blue Light Mine, founded by Santa Ana residents Hank Smith and William Curry after they discovered silver (which gave the canyon its name) in 1877. After staking their claim, digging commenced and didn’t stop until the mid-twentieth century, during which time zinc, lead, and gold were mined, as well.

This isn’t for the faint of heart. The hike to the lower Blue Light Mine is a reasonably easy mile each way with a gain of 100-200 elevation. However, the hike to the upper mine, where guide Mike Boeck claims, “the views are grand and the look-see into the mine is more interesting,” doubles the distance and more than triples the elevation gain. (If you arrive at the lower mine and don’t feel as if you can continue, someone will take you back to the trailhead while the rest of the group continues.) Phil Brigandi will offer the history of the area along the way.

Date: Saturday, April 12, 2014
Time: 9:30 a.m.
Length: 4 hours
Bring: plenty of water, snacks, and a lunch

This is a very rare opportunity, but the hike is limited to 20 people.

Reservations are a MUST. Confirmation will be made by email and will include additional information regarding the trek.

This hike sponsored by the Orange County Historical Society in partnership with the Silverado Modjeska Recreation and Park District (SMRPD).

Follow up to the History Hike:

• Chris Jepsen’s Flickr photo set: OCHS at Blue Light Mine