Fountain Valley

^{Often referred to as “Orange County’s best planned community”, Fountain Valley, it was once just a swampy area where cattle were free to graze and traveling pastors preached under tents on tiny islands in the area. It was once referred to as “Gospel Swamps” because it was once inundated with swampy areas, so much so that kids used to call areas of water lakes and named them after the property they were on. The area was also known as Talbert.}

^{Drainage canals were built so that the land could be used to grow beans, barley, sugar beets and wheat. Any land that was not being used to grow crops was allocated for cattle to graze. In the late 1870s a severe drought turned the swampland, which was fuelled by the Santa Ana River, into dense farmland. And, in 1903 land values increased from $10 to $500 per acre.}

^{The agricultural focus began to shift in the 1930s when owners of large land portions began to sell their parcels and truck farming began. This brought the growing of strawberries, cabbage, onions, asparagus, spinach, carrots, lettuce, tomatoes, peas, parsley, and corn. Today there are still some agricultural areas such as Smith Farms which mostly produces melons, citrus, tomatoes and other vegetables. The Callens family who migrated to the United States from Western Europe in 1910 still own that land. Between the turn of the century and 1920, the population grew from 20,000 to 61,000 and with that growth, two small villages were emerging.}

^{Incorporated as a city in 1957, Fountain Valley became the 21st city in Orange County. The city grew exponentially in the 1960s as the building tracts of housing picked up the pace. In the late 1970s after the Fall of Saigon in 1975, Vietnamese refugees began arriving in the city and a large community of Asian Americans was formed. Mostly made up of farmers, the first City Council, promised to keep the city as a farming community but when the new I-405 freeway was built in the early 1960s, the community was divided into two. Land value rocketed and housing developers came with it.}

^{The name “Fountain Valley” is derived from the abundant water supply of the area thanks to the fantastic artesian wells in the area. Fountain Valley is 35 miles from Los Angeles and is a city that prides itself on having a superlative community for the people who live there.}

^{The median household income is $85,423 as of 2019.}

^{Population: Approximately 56,026 as of 2019}

^{Well Known Places in Fountain Valley}

^{The Reptile Zoo}

^{Mile Square Regional Park}

^{Fountain Valley Skating Center}

^{Fact Sheet}

^{The city’s Master Plan was the first of its kind in Orange County.}

^{It is California’s first city to use picnic tables and park benches which were made of plastic as educational media.}

^{Every June, there is an annual Summerfest in Mile Square Regional Park with a host of events including a car show, rides, music and booths.}