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2117 N. Victoria Drive, Santa Ana, California
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<br />prominent local attorney, West had a private practice through about 1930 and subsequently had a
<br />partnership with attorney B.Z. McKinney. He also served as Orange County District Attorney three times
<br />during the years 1919-1921.31 In addition to developing the house at the subject property, he developed
<br />the house at 2226 Victoria Drive (extant).32 He died in 1955 and is buried in Santa Ana.33
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<br />VI. HISTORIC CONTEXT
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<br />Development of the Floral Park Neighborhood
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<br />The townsite of Santa Ana was founded by William Spurgeon in 1869. Much of the early development
<br />that followed was spawned by arrival of the Southern Pacific and Santa Fe Railroads in 1878 and 1886,
<br />respectively.34 The City was first incorporated in 1886 and was a “well-established city” at the time,
<br />becoming the seat of Orange County in 1889.35 By 1900, Santa Ana had almost 500 residents.36 The early
<br />years of the Twentieth Century saw a building boom and improvements, such as arrival of the gasoline-
<br />powered Red Car providing transportation out of Los Angeles, brought prosperity and new development
<br />opportunities.37 Following close of World War I in 1918, post-war prosperity ensued; substantial new
<br />development was implemented in Santa Ana during the 1920s. It was during this decade new homes
<br />began construction in the Floral Park neighborhood where the subject property is located, which today is
<br />roughly bounded by W. Seventeenth Street, N. Flower Street, Riverside Drive, and Broadway.
<br />
<br />Prior to 1920, Floral Park consisted of agricultural land with citrus, avocado, and walnut groves and
<br />scattered ranch houses.38 Contractors responsible for building many of the homes in the area included
<br />Allison Honer (1897-1981) and Roy Russell (1881-1965).39 Houses constructed there in the 1920s and
<br />1930s espoused revival style architecture popular at the time, such as Colonial and Spanish Colonial
<br />Revival, English Tudor, and French Norman designs. When the house at the subject property was
<br />constructed, it stood out as one of the few on the east side of Victoria Drive, with areas of agricultural
<br />land on either side. An historic aerial photograph from 1930 shows the house was one of the largest on the
<br />block. With a deep front yard and curved pathways leading to the main entrance, the Spanish Colonial
<br />Revival house was architecturally distinguished.
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<br />Development of new homes continued in Floral Park both during and after the close of World War II in
<br />1945. Mirroring development trends throughout Southern California at the time, post-war prosperity and
<br />the subsequent boom in growth of housing caused a rapid increase in development of land formerly used
<br />for agriculture. By the 1950s, vacant parcels continued to be developed, though now often with the
<br />modern Ranch style homes popular at the time. Historic aerial photographs show that by 1952, a
<br />substantial amount of land formerly used for agriculture had been developed with single-family homes;
<br />the neighborhood was even more built out by 1962, with little open land remaining (see Attachment B,
<br />Historic Aerials 1-6). Floral park was historically and continues to be considered a “premier
<br />neighborhood of Santa Ana… home to many affluent and prominent citizens.”40 Multiple properties
<br />Victoria Drive near the subject property have been locally designated as Santa Ana Landmarks.41
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<br />31 Heumann, “2117 North Victoria Drive.”
<br />32 “25,000 Home Will Be Built in Santa Ana,” Santa Ana Register, July 14, 1927: 9.
<br />33 “Leonard A. West,” U.S., Find A Grave Index, 1600s-Current, Ancestry.com.
<br />34 Leslie J. Heumann, “Old Santa Ana City Hall,” Historic Survey Form, Intensive Survey Update, September 4, 2001: 3.
<br />35 Diann Marsh, Santa Ana… An Illustrated History, 2nd Ed., Encinitas: Heritage Publishing Company, 1994:
<br />36 Marsh, 87.
<br />37 Marsh, 92-93.
<br />38 Heumann, “2117 North Victoria Drive.”
<br />39 Diann Marsh, Santa Ana… An Illustrated History, 2nd Ed., Encinitas: Heritage Publishing Company, 1994: 131.
<br />40 Heumann, “2117 North Victoria Drive.”
<br />41 City of Santa Ana Historic Resource Map, updated October 10, 2018, https://www.santa-
<br />ana.org/sites/default/files/Historic%20Resource%20Map%20October_2018.pdf.
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