Wednesday, June 18, 2008

Old Orange County Courthouse, preservation, etc.

These "before and after" images (click to enlarge) show the east entrance to the Old Orange County Courthouse in Santa Ana. I took the photo on the right yesterday. The photo on the left was taken during the building's construction, in 1901. Note the mules passing through the threshold. Temporary earthen ramps were built to allow the mules to drag building materials to upper floors. The courthouse was completed in the fall of 1901. The Temecula granite and Arizona sandstone facade has held up very well considering all it's experienced over the past 107 years (including a major earthquake in 1933).
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Thanks to the preservation evangelism of Guy Ball, four Orange County historic structures have been inducted into the National Trust for Historic Places' "This Place Matters" program. All four are in Santa Ana. They are the Old Orange County Courthouse, the Spurgeon Building, the Kellogg House, and the Howe-Waffle House. Click here to see the entries. The National Trust's website explains how you can add historic buildings from your area to this national listing.

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