1857 Parlor

Anaheim was founded in 1857 by a group of German settlers who gave it the German name meaning "home by the river." The settlers were part of a group who first came to the United States during the German Revolution of 1848 and settled in San Francisco. Fifty members of that German community decided to move south when they learned about an abundance of cheap land that was once part of a Spanish land grant. The German colonists purchased the 1,165 acres of coastal plains for $2 an acre. Two of the Germans had a wine-making business. Attracted by the area's moderate climate, the settlers decided to make wine production the region's economic foundation. A civil engineer named George Hansen was hired to plan a carefully thought-out community with fences to protect the planned vineyards from roaming cattle. To allow future growth, specific parcels were set aside for construction of a school and other public buildings.