The Historic Downtown District in Santa Ana, California is roughly bounded by Ross to French streets and First to Civic Center streets.
This district is characterized by a number of buildings in the Art Deco style as well as three old movie houses (The West End, Fox West Coast, and the Yost). Orange County's first Courthouse is also located here on Civic Center and Broadway streets. It is now a museum. The Dr. Willella Howe-Waffle House and Medical Museum is also located in this district and it is now home to the Santa Ana Historical Preservation Society.
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At one point in time, Downtown Santa Ana was the place to be in Orange County. The County's first theater, Walker's Theater, was built in 1909 on Main & Second streets adjacent to the old City Hall. Today, the Main Street Studio Lofts now stand where the county's first movie house used to.
The City of Santa Ana was established in 1869 by William Spurgeon on 74.27 acres (300,600 m2) of land purchased from the old Spanish land grant, Rancho Santiago de Santa Ana. The County of Orange was formed in 1889 by William Spurgeon and James McFadden and Santa Ana was chosen as the county seat of government because of its larger growth as a town over surrounding towns namely Orange. The Old Orange County Courthouse was built in 1901 and thus the town blossomed into the county's main economic and political center. The surrounding old town buildings then became what is now Santa Ana's Historical Downtown.
The Downtown is characterized by a varied mix of old and new businesses and a portion of the Civic Center. The new and old Santa Ana City Hall buildings are within this area as well as the Old Orange County Courthouse and the Ronald Reagan Federal Building and United States Courthouse. The newly formed Artist's Village and the older Fiesta Marketplace also characterize this historic downtown.
In recent years, efforts have been made to revitalize and beautify the Downtown by attracting new businesses and a higher economic class. It for many years has been a place for low income consumption (specifically Fourth street and some surrounding streets) and it unfortunately gained a stigma for some time but now things and attitudes towards it are changing.
The Artist's Village was the vision of Don Cribb and was made possible with the help of the City Council & others. It is the home to various artists and institutions namely the Historical Santora building, the Cal State Fullerton Grand Central Art Center and the Orange County Center for Contemporary Art.
Overtime the Fiesta Marketplace merchants have sought to maintain a Mexican-like business district with stores and restaurants varying in their offerings.
It is important to note that the National Register of Historic Places states that the Santa Ana Historical Downtown District is roughly bounded by Civic Center, 1st, Ross, & Spurgeon streets. What this means is that nearby buildings could be considered part of the Historical Downtown. For instance, the blocks from Spurgeon to French streets are seemingly not listed in the National Register of Historic Places. However, there are a number of buildings which date back to the 20s and have Art Deco like traits. The Yost Theater, is beyond the Spurgeon street boundary and it is officially listed as a historic building. It is on the block in between Spurgeon and French streets. This area is now marked as Fiesta Marketplace.
Other examples are the buildings in Civic Center Plaza. These institutions are inevitably tied and related to and even based on the Old OC Courthouse and the Reagan Building which are within this rough boundary. That and their geographical proximity.
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