Orange County sites.. - 6/15/2014 | Libi's California Adventure

On Father's Day we decided to treat Ron to a day full of historic sites in Orange County. We thought it would be fun to hit some of the beach sites..... BIG MISTAKE!!! Everyone was taking their dad to the beach and we couldn't find any place to park. That sent us inland-- which actually led to some interesting finds.

We began our day in Seal Beach which was formerly called Anaheim Landing (CHL 219). This is actually located right next to a military base with a prominent sign that says "No photography." We are hoping that they weren't talking about things off base-- because we had to take pictures!

Anaheim landing was the port that was established to ship the goods grown by the Mother Colony in Anaheim. It was challenging to get into, so it was only a port for about 15 years.

Next it was off to a park in Costa Mesa where they have the Diego Sepulveda Adobe (CHL 227).

The adobe was originally built as the home for the cattle foreman for the Mission San Juan Capistrano, it is the second oldest building in Orange County.

They do have tours, but sadly they didn't have any today. We will have to return on another day to see what's on the inside.

The home has quite a rich history-- from mastodons to a reconstruction with lumber from the Drum Baracks in Willmington. To read all about it you can visit the Costa Mesa Historical Society.

After a quick game of tag-- we were off to the coastal sites . . . which as you read above didn't turn out well!

We turned ourselves inland and found ourselves at Old Town Irvine (CHL 1004).

Irvine was founded in 1887 to distribute products from the Irvine Ranch-- eventually a storage warehouse, granary, blacksmith shop, hotel, general store, and employee bungalows were all built here.

The buildings all still exist today and house businesses including a La Quinta Inn, hair salon, realtor, restaurant, and other offices. It was really cool to see the old bean and grain warehouse turned into a hotel!

We got as close to the next site as we could-- but it is surrounded by gated communities! Barton Mound (CHL 218) is named after Sheriff James Barton-- the second sheriff of Los Angeles County and the first to die in office. Juan Flores was an escaped fugitive from San Quentin who was planning a raid on San Juan Capistrano and Sheriff Barton was tipped off to his location. Barton and five men confronted the Flores gang near this mound and Barton and three of his men were brutally killed. Later we will find out what happened to Flores... stay tuned!

Further inland in Lake Forest we found the Serrano Adobe (CHL 199). The whole Heritage Hill Park is really well done-- we will absolutely have to come back for some of their special events during the year.

Jose Serrano built his adobe in 1863 on land that was called Canada de los Alisos.

His family were cattle ranchers who built several other structures around this adobe.

The home was in private hands until it was donated to the City of Orange in 1974.

This also happens to be on the National Register of Historic places. So if we ever decide to visit those, we will have at least one checked off the list :)

They do have tours of the home, but sadly we arrived after the final tour of the day. They do have an audio tour for the home which we took advantage of.

The park has many other historical buildings that we transplanted here including this cool, old Episcopal church.

Seeing as how it's Father's Day-- we needed to do a few father/daughter photos, right?

We departed Serrano Adobe and headed for the Santa Ana Mountains. Remember Juan Flores, the outlaw who murdered Sheriff Barton? After he murdered Barton he fled to the hills.

Flores Peak (CHL 225) was where General Andres Pico, brother of Pio Pico, and his men caught Flores 11 days after Barton's murder. The posse that finally brought him to justice was 120 men large. Flores was tried for murder and hanged.

A short drive away we came to Modjeska's Home (CHL 205).

Helena Modjeska was a famous Polish actress. She was famous for her Shakespearean performances.

She and her husband left Poland and settled in a canyon near Anaheim which they called Arden. She was a champion of the arts in Orange County and there are tributes to her all over the city. Next time you are in the neighborhood be on the lookout for them.

One canyon over we found Carbondale (CHL 228). The sign is actually cleverly hidden behind a church marquee-- it would have been impossible to find if we hadn't had landmarkquest.com photos to help guide us.

Carbondale was a boom town founded in 1878 when coal was discovered here. The Santa Clara Coal Mine was surrounded by a saloon, hotel, post office and houses for the miners. Once the coal was gone, so was the city-- nothing remains today of Carbondale.

At the end of the same street where we found Carbondale, was the city of Silverado (CHL 202).

As the name would suggest, silver was discovered and mined here beginning in 1878. Many of the buildings from this boom still remain in this quaint community.

Our next site was too difficult to get very close to for two reasons: 1) The site is inside a county park and isn't accessible by car 2) The ranger was ticketing and scolding some young men who were illegally riding motorcycles inside the park. We decided that since there is no plaque, or real evidence of the site that we would count the sign below.

The Black Star Canyon Indian Village Site (CHL 217) was where the Tongva-Gabrielino Indians spent part of the year to avoid the heat of the surrounding area and eat the acorns that grew abundantly here. This particular group of Native Americans also happened to be horse theives, so they weren't well-liked by the settlers nearby.

Red Hill (CHL 203) was located on an elementary school campus, which was pretty cool!

The hill was named for its red coloring and was used as a landmark to travelers. Its early name was Cerrito de las Ranas or Hill of the Frogs-- I can't find an explanation for why it was called that so you can use your imagination to explain it.