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| Orange County Plaza's remarkable sign, circa 1960 (Photo courtesy Keizers) |
Orange County Plaza opened on the 9700 block of Chapman Avenue at Brookhurst Street in Garden Grove in 1956 with twenty stores, including a ThriftiMart and an Economart. It was created by the Tietz Construction Company (Bill W. Tietz and Harry S. Rinker, principles) -- the same developers behind the Skylark Terrace and Town & Country Estates residential developments in Garden Grove. The Plaza had one of the best signs ever designed for an Orange County roadside.
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| The Thriftimart portion of Orange County Plaza, 1957. |
There was an announcement that longtime Santa Ana landmark Rankin's Department Store would open their first branch store at Orange County Plaza, but that never happened. One can only wonder if expanding into the suburbs -- the way other Southern California department store chains had -- would have given Rankin's another forty to sixty years of life.
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| Concept art from 1956 for Orange County Plaza. (Not to be confused with Orange's Plaza) |
The center expanded dramatically in 1959 by developers Donald H. Shanedling and Harry Rinker, adding forty stores including Penney's, Newberry's and Grant's, Safeway, Thrifty, and Hartfield's. This expansion made it the biggest shopping center in the county and despite the existence of Anaheim Plaza (1955), it billed itself as "Orange County's first regional shopping center."
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| Looking west on Chapman Avenue. |
Major renovations were made in 1979, at which point the shopping center was known as Garden Grove Mall. New major additions included National Lumber and Wineman's Department Store (later The Boston Store).
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| Detail: Across the street from O.C. Center, a sign for the Eastgate development, an A & W stand, a sign for Jumpin' Gyminy Trampoline Center ("Fun for Everyone!"), and a liquor store sign that was undoubtedly animated. Behind them are the remains of a eucalyptus windbreak -- a reminder of the agriculture that was rapidly giving way to everything these signs represented. |
Today, the open-air center is known as The Promenade at Garden Grove and includes a Walmart (formerly a Costco) and a large Regal Cinema.
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| Looking east on Chapman Ave. toward Brookhurst (Photo courtesy Mike A. M.) |
UPDATE, 9/2026: This article has been improved and expanded.
35 comments:
I know that the East Gate park and neighborhood today is basically at Valley View and Chapman... but all the the homes and street names east of Vally view seem similar (similar residential names continue east of Valley View) and seem to end at Knott (where industrial and commercial buildings take over.)
if the "first phase" of eastgate actually started at Chapman and KNott... then go 2.5 miles east on Chapman and you do arrive at the large shopping area at Brookhurst and Chapman (where there is a modern movie theater now). That kinda makes sense, but it depends on if those houses just west of Knott at Chapman were really the first phase of EastGate in the 60s.
okk.. enough speculation for me tonight. :-)
ok.. maybe not enough speculation...
look at the wide shot. Does the fence line and the buildings on the left seem to be angled in to intersect the main street (not 90 degrees to it... but angling toward it a bit at a 45 to 30 degree angle) It may be hard to tell, or maybe I an reading into it, but if that is what we see there... that could be the edge of the old diagonal red car path that even today is obvious from aerial maps) if that is actually what we are seeing, then this shopping center could be the one at chapman west of brookhurst. because the old red-car route is just west of there.
Thank you, that was driving me nuts! I remember a shopping center there, with either a Sears or JC Penney, some smaller shops...one of those vague childhood memories, and the sign was haunting me. Funny how that stuff becomes such a part of us. It is a glorified strip mall today. Now tell me, where can I get those milk chocolate star shaped drops they used to sell across the street from that center at the Newbury? Anyone?
My favorite part is that Liquor signs today look the same as they did 50 years ago. hic
Yeah, I remember going to that A&W when I was in high school.
We ditched class one time and went there and ran into a teacher who was ditching too.
It turned into a Tommy's in the 80's and it was good for a while, but went down hill in the 90's.
The liquor store sign used to animate like it was exploding.
A friend of mine worked at the music store across the street in Anaheim Plaza.
I grew up in 1960's Eastgate and cannot remember the name of the BAR that was in the Thriftimart Shopping Center. It is driving me CRAZY!!!
Chris can you help me!!! I need to remember the name of the bar at the Thriftimart Shopping Center around 1965. In Eastgate. Maybe the something....Knight?? or Roman something???? It was located next to the grocery store and Bank.
THANKS!!
Okay, last one for tonight. Eastgate. 1960's. Valley View and Chapman. Shopping Center with a Thriftimart. The BIG T!! What was the name of the BAR in that Center? Anyone???
wow. Someone really needs a drink to settle down!
Unfortunatly, I don't have a directory handy from the mid-1960s, but here are some potentially relevant businesses in that area from the 1975 Garden Grove directory:
The Golden Ox Restaurant, 11938 Valley View
Sweetpea's Restaurant, 11948 Valley View
Copper Penny Coffee Shop & Cocktail Lounge, 9791 Chapman Ave
And per your reference points...
Thrifimart #67, 11861 Valley View
Bank of America, 11887 Valley View
I couldn't find anything in that area with "Knight" or "Roman" in the name.
Thanks for trying, Chris. I may have to find a classmate from Pacifica High School who might have been one of the "babysitters" too! It's worth a try I guess. It's weird how things can stick in your mind from so long ago. I appreciate the info. You've got the right area. And this place was just a little dump. :)as I recall. But I never saw the inside ofcourse.
To find your mystery bar, try looking in the directories in the California or Local History section at the Garden Grove Public Library. They have a good collection, and they probably have GG directories from the mid-1960s. Look under "Cocktail Lounges" in the yellow pages section and look for similar addresses on Valley View and Chapman Ave.
I will do as you suggested. Thanks so much. You have been a great help. I know I sound like a "wino" but seriously, it was a running joke to all us teenagers who babysat for the mom's who went there when their husbands were at work during the day! HA!
Thanks for the great picture of OC Plaza, corner of Chapman and Brookhurst (yes, that's definitely the place!). And I love the "googie" look of the sign. I too wish it were still there.
Does anyone remember Belle Isle restaurant (Harbor & Chapman), with enormous portions, where "5 out of 4 eat"?
Since this is an older post, it may not be read, but I grew up around the intersection of Brookhurst and Chapman and the Plaza was my hangout.
The picture is definitely looking west on Chapman, just west of Brookhurst, and the next cross-street/signal beyond the liquor store is Gilbert. On the opposite side of Chapman was the Womens' Club of GG, which I believe is the building you can see on the far left of the close-up of the Plaza sign. In the 60s, the liquor store was called Chappy's, and my brother and lots of friends worked there, doing home delivery of liquor, if you can believe that (they were 16!) Yes, that is the old Red Car rail line on the left - we used to find pollywogs there. The shopping center on the left that was yet to be built in front of part of the Red Car line included the IHOP "L" strip, the Zody's department store and, closer east to Brookhurst was the Sav-on/ Newberry's center, when Newberry's still had a diner inside (is it gone?) and we would have milkshakes where they left the metal container with the extra left next to your huge glass. Yummy. :)
To the right of the OC Plaza sign were some shops sitting in front of the main strip, which included the Copper Penney restaurant and heading east again towards Brookhurst was Thriftimart, where my other brother worked and my parents always shopped.
My mind is blanking right now on lots of the stores, but then I am old. :)
Love your blog, and thanks for the memories.
The Orange County Plaza Shopping Center was built in the late 1950's and, at the time, was one of the largest (if not *the* largest) shopping center in Orange County. I have a list of the original stores at work but off the top of my head, the anchors were the (JC) Penney, Thriftimart, Economart and Grant's. The center declined after 15 years and the plaza was remodeled during Garden Grove's "City Redevelopment" phase in the mid-1970's. It was reconfigured and re-branded as the 'Garden Grove Mall' and given another facelift in the late 80's as the 'Garden Promenade'. About ten years ago the JC Penney building was razed to make way for the current Regal movie theater.
Check back later for more history . . .
Great photos! I remember that sign well.
The name of the bar in the Thriftimart shopping center (Eastgate Plaza) at Chapman and Valley View in Garden Grove was................................................The Sea Wolf!
This really brings back memories. My mother worked at the Magic Mirror beauty salon in Orange Plaza, so I hung out there during school vacations. I'd get donuts from the donut shop at one end and comic books from the dime store. What was it, Rasco's? I got my cub scout uniforms at WT Grant.
I remember there was a fire at the Copper Penney. The customers all poured out into the parking lot and the firemen stormed in.
A&W across the street had the best taquitos. Well, they were the best then. My sense of taste is about a half century older.
Thanks for the stroll down memory lane!
This response might be a couple years late, however Mistress Babs, I remember Belle Isle at Chapman & Harbor. I was young but remembered the large servings. I was telling a friend they've never rebuilt a restaurant on that corner. (regardless what's there now)
Plaza Hag; You got it! Your recollections are about spot on with mine. Did you ever go to Savons and get 3 for a dime candy bars or 5cent ice cream cones? I grew up on Melody Park Dr. and the plaza was a quick bike ride away. BAKER,B.
I was actually searching for an image of the "Orange County Plaza' sign. I grew up in Garden Grove and walked to that plaza a billion times! If I'd known they would tear down that wonderful googie sign, I would have saved my pennies to buy it. Lots of wonderful memories at that plaza. The 'Plaza Hag' has got it right. That view is facing West looking at the sign on the North side of Chapman. I used to also dine inside the Woolworth's as a kid. Bought my cord jeans at Red Eye as a teen, along with my Hang Ten shirts. We would ride our sting-ray bikes over the mogules on the corner of Gilbert and Chapman next to the Safeway there on the end when it was a dirt lot. Zody's was across the street, and a big treat for our family was getting a huge 2 scoop ice cream cone at Sav-on's (SW corner of Brookhurst & Chapman). I'd get my records at Licorice Pizza (in the SE corner of this Plaza)..... during high school. I still have my Beatles albums that were on sale for 4 bucks each! wow, thanks for having a photo!!
I am begining to wonder if you guys ever went down there. All of the bars had Navel themes, the one between W.T. Grants and Thrifty Mart was Sweet Peas and across the streat was The Sea Wolf
Y'all can't forget about the Thrifty Drugs, Brownie's Toys, and Thom McAn Shoe store.
my god.....oh my god.
not one mention of slips cafe.
I have a tie at Pinnacle peaks
I lived on dudman...a short bike ride to the big T
Weird to read this stuff. I grew up in Eastgate from the time it was built, on Santa Barbara St. I could see the Big T from my yard, and later they built an Alpha Beta across the street. I watched it go up. I remember a few times they had a couple dancing on the top of a tall pole on a tiny round platform, publicity gimmick I think. And the Navy jets from Los Al circled round and round all day long, with their sonic booms. One of the other stores over there, btw, was Grants. So fun to see that OC sign! Thanks!!!
I also remember Belle Isles well. It was still around in the '80s and I had the good fortune to take my daughters there a few times when they were young. BIG food! LOL!
Remember the missile silos down Chapman near the junior highschool? And that big radar installation that all us kids called the 'giant golfball'? Right there in the middle of the burbs. Crazy!
was it the 'Jolly Knight' Restaurant on Garden Grove Blvd. that you were asking about?
The bar at eastgate was called the sea wolf if memory serves
THE EASTGATE 1.ST PHASE WAS THRIFTY MART. DR. ANDERSON AND CHAMBERLIN DDS. THEN RUDYS BAKERY,SPARKLIN CLEANERS.THE LAULNDRY, WHERE I BOUGHT MY FIRST PACK OF CIGERETTES FOR 25 CENTS THEN SLIPS COFFEE SHOP GREAT CHERRY COKES.
The Jolly Knight
I created a wikipedia article for this place, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orange_County_Plaza
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