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State of California-The Resources Agency Primary #
<br />DEPARTMENT OF PARKS AND RECREATION HRI #
<br />CONTINUATION SHEET Trinomial
<br />Page 3 of 3 Resource Name or # (Assigned by recorder) Dixon House
<br />*Recorded by Leslie J. Heumann and Deborah Howen-,4rdua ~uate July zi, zvub u t,onnnuanon u upaaie
<br />*B10. Significance (continued):
<br />Santa Ana was founded by William Spurgeon in 1869 as a speculative town site on part of the Spanish land grant known as
<br />Rancho Santiago de Santa Ana. The civic and commercial core of the community was centered around the intersection of
<br />Main and Fourth Streets. Stimulated by the arrival of the Santa Fe Railroad and incorporation as a city in 1886, and selection
<br />as the seat of the newly created County of Orange in 1889, the city grew outwards, with residential neighborhoods
<br />developing to the north, south, and east of the city center. Agricultural uses predominated in the outlying areas, with
<br />cultivated fields and orchards dotted with widely scattered farmhouses.
<br />The Dixon House is located in the Park Santiago neighborhood, near the present northern city limits of Santa Ana and
<br />substantially north of the original city core. The neighborhood is bounded by Santiago Creek and Park on the north, East
<br />Seventeenth Street on the south, North Lincoln Avenue on the east, North Main Street on the west, and the 1-5 freeway on
<br />the southwest. In large pan; these boundaries reflect the transportation lines that were constructed towards the end of the
<br />nineteenth century and at the beginning of the twentieth century, when the Pacific Electric interurban railroad ran up Main
<br />Street; the Atchison, Topeka, and Santa Fe tracks followed Lincoln; and the Southern Pacific Railroad right-of--way mirrored
<br />the freeway route. This area remained primarily agricultural well into the 1920s. As of 1905, the city directories listed around
<br />twenty households on East Santa Clara, Twentieth Street, "C Street" (now North Santiago Street), North Bush Street and
<br />North Main Avenue, the only streets in the area of the time. The vast majority of the residents were ranchers. By 1911, the
<br />number of households had increased to about thirty, and Edgewood Road and Valencia Street had been partially laid out, but
<br />most residents continued to list "ranche-" or `Yruit grower" as their occupation in the city directories. This pattern of land use
<br />was evident on the 1912 plat map of the City, which illustrated two small, Craftsman-era subdivisions along Bush north of
<br />Santa Clara and on Valencia and Poinsettia south of Twentieth Street, with the remaining area divided info larger agricultural
<br />parcels held by approximately forty landowners.
<br />While the area east of Santiago Street was not subdivided unfit after the mid-1920s, most of the present day streets west of
<br />Santiago had been laid out when the Cify was mapped in 1923. Ranching continued to be the most prevalent occupation in
<br />the neighborhood, but increasing numbers of professionals, small business owners, merchants, and people in service
<br />professions such as painters, electricians, and carpenters made their homes in the western half of the neighborhood during
<br />the 1920s and 1930s. The area also attracted several Cify and county officials, including the City Attorney (Z.B. West, Jr.,
<br />321 East Santa Clara Avenue), County Supervisor, First District (C.H. Chapman, 2315 North Santiago Street), County
<br />Surveyor (E.H. Irwin, 2407 North Santiago Street), and County Auditor (William C. Jerome, 2422 Poinsettia Street). By April
<br />1942, when the Sanborn Company first mapped the western half of the area, most of the lots had been improved with single-
<br />familyhomes, many in the revival styles popular during the 1920s and 1930s. Subsequent development of the eastern half of
<br />the neighborhood and infill construction in the western half displayed the simplified ranch style that emerged following World
<br />War 11.
<br />The Dixon House qualifies for listing in the Santa Ana Register of Historical Property under Criterion 3 for its exemplification
<br />of the distinguishing characteristics of the Spanish Colonial Revival style. Typical features of this style illustrated by the
<br />house include its materials of the and stucco, casement windows, use of arches, and incorporation of a patio into the plan.
<br />Additionally, the house has been categorized as "Contributive" because it `contributes to the overall character and history" of
<br />Santa Ana, and, as an example of the Spanish Colonial Revival style `is a good example of period architecture." Character-
<br />defining exterior features of the Dixon House that should be preserved include, but may not be limited to, materials and
<br />finishes (stucco, tile); roof confrgurafion and detailing; original windows and doors where extant; chimney; patio, architectural
<br />details such as the buttresses and attic vents; and garage.
<br />"B12. References (continued):
<br />Harris, Cyril M. American Architecture: An Illustrated Encyclopedia. New York, WW Norton, 1998.
<br />Marsh, Diann. Santa Ana. An Illustrated History. Encinitas, Heritage Publishing, 1994.
<br />McAlester, Virginia and Lee. A Field Guide to American Houses. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1984.
<br />National Register Bulletin 16A. `How to Complete the National Register Registration Form." Washington DC: National
<br />Register Branch, National Park Service, US Dept. of the Interior, 1991.
<br />Office of Historic Preservation. `Instructions for Recording Historical Resources."Sacramento: March 1995.
<br />Whitten, Marcus. American Architecture Since 1780. Cambridge: MIT Press, 1969.
<br />Orange County Plaf Maps, 1912.
<br />Historic Maps, Santa Ana History Room, 1923, 1932, 1955.
<br />Santa Ana and Orange County Directories, 1926-1961.
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