Nixon exhibits, Anaheim's Founders' Park, etc.

Today's photo takes some explaining. You see, the Nixon Library in Yorba Linda was started by the Nixon Foundation, which is composed of Richard Nixon's friends and supporters. But the National Archives wouldn't send Nixon's presidential papers to the Library unless they were given control of the place. It's my understanding that in the end, the Foundation only ended up with control over a few areas of the facility, including the lobby and at least part of the gift shop.

Recently, the National Archives folks opened a new permanent exhibit on Watergate that some Nixon supporters saw as an attack. Soon thereafter, the Foundation placed this sign (shown above) in the lobby. It's a quote from President Clinton, which reads, "May the day of judging President Nixon on anything less than his entire life and career come to a close."

Belated congratulations to Anaheim on their new Founders' Park, which opened to much fanfare two weeks ago. The park includes the beautifully restored Woelke-Stoffel House (1894), the Mother Colony House (1857), a carriage house, a pump house, a windmill, other samples of Anaheim's agricultural past, and a ginormous fig tree which served as a model for Disneyland's Swiss Family Robinson Treehouse. I've been watching the park's progress, and can't wait to see what the final product looks like! A lot of good people put a lot of long hours, blood, sweat, and tears into this project.

The Register covered the Founders' Park grand opening, but used different headlines for the online and print editions of the story. The print edition's headline was, I think, correct in calling the Mother Colony House the oldest wood frame home in Orange County. The headline for the online version simply called it "O.C.'s oldest home." There are quite a few people living in adobes who would be surprised to hear that. Let that be a lesson to us all: The act of putting an article -- even the exact same article -- on the Internet immediately makes it less accurate. What chance does a blogger have?

The Dana Point Historical Society has announced Oct. 2nd (11am-4pm) as the date for their annual home tour. Keep an eye on their website for forthcoming details.

DPHS also has an article on their website about William Goodwin Dana, (a relative of town namesake Richard Henry Dana, Jr.,) who ran the prosperous Rancho Nipomo and served in public office in early Santa Barbara. His adobe home is currently undergoing restoration work, but it seems that tours are still available. Okay,... The Orange County link here is a bit tenuous. But any excuse to visit California's central coast is a good excuse.