A Brief History of Irvine, California

The first inhabitants of the area now known as Irvine could have existed as long as 18,000 years ago. The Gabrielino Indians settled the area 2,000 years ago, establishing many villages, and living off of the plentiful natural resources, such as shellfish. This lifestyle ended when a Spanish explorer named Gaspar de Portola arrived in 1769, bringing, forts, missions, and cattle. The area that would later become the Irvine Ranch was made up of three large Spanish/Mexican grants in the early 19th century: Rancho Santiago de Santa Ana, Rancho San Joaquin, and Rancho Lomas de Santiago. These would later fall under the ownership of James Irvine, and when his son, James Irvine Jr., inherited this ranch in 1893, he incorporated it into The Irvine Company. He shifted the operations to include field crops, olive and citrus orchards, and during World War I, the ranch grew around 60,000 acres of lima beans. In World War II, The Irvine Company sold land to the government for two Marine Corps air facilities.

In 1959, The Irvine Company gave 1,000 acres to the University of California for a new campus, and later sold an additional 500 acres. William Pereira, the University's consulting architect, and the planners of The Irvine Company made master plans for a city to surround the university, which would develop into an even larger city than the planned 50,000 residents.

For more information on the history of Irvine, please visit these websites:
http://www.cityofirvine.org/about/history.asp
http://www.irvine.org/about_irvine/history.shtml
http://www.helloirvine.com/History.Cfm