Orange County (OC) is the most prominent of the 4 counties bordering Los Angeles County. Originally a part of L.A. County, it separated in the 1800s because:
- The only fire hose for the county was at the main station in downtown Los Angeles.
- The fare for a trip from downtown to Anaheim cost $6.
The major newspaper of the county is the Orange County Register (OC Register) and the county seat is located in Santa Ana. Located in southern OC is the campus of the University of California Irvine.
Orange County is infamous for a early-1990s bankruptcy caused by the Treasurer-Tax Collector Robert L. Citron who put county money on the stock market. With that aside, the county is a wonderful place compared to the dense urbanization that is Los Angeles County. Yes, much of Orange County has been subjected to the plauge that is urban sprawl. However, places like Newport Beach, Manhattan Beach and all these places give Orange County a superficial idea of the Southern California lifestyle.
Nothing wrong with that...
Prominent landmarks in Orange County include: