The Gates of Anaheim are a series of gates in

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

that mark the historic entrance to

Anaheim, California Anaheim ( ) is a city in northern Orange County, California, part of the Los Angeles metropolitan area. As of the 2020 United States Census, the city had a population of 346,824, making it the most populous city in Orange County, the 10th-most p ...

. Four city gates were built: North, East, South, and West. They were designated a

California Historic Landmark A California Historical Landmark (CHL) is a building, structure, site, or place in California that has been determined to have statewide historical landmark significance. Criteria Historical significance is determined by meeting at least one of ...

(No.122) on March 29, 1933. An historic marker sits at the intersection of South Anaheim Boulevard and West South Street, at 777 South Anaheim Boulevard. The marker is to memorialize Anaheim's founding in 1857 and the city gate that was there. The early Anaheim Colony put up a barrier around the town to block out wild

cattle Cattle (''Bos taurus'') are large, domesticated, cloven-hooved, herbivores. They are a prominent modern member of the subfamily Bovinae and the most widespread species of the genus ''Bos''. Adult females are referred to as cows and adult mal ...

grazing in nearby fields. The

City of Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

lay beyond the North gate, making it the most frequented.

Pioneer house of the Mother Colony

The Pioneer House of the Mother Colony or Anaheim first house was designated a California Historic Landmark (No.102) on June 20, 1935. The house was relocated to 414 North West Street, Anaheim in 1929 from the corner of Los Angeles Ave, now Anaheim Boulevard, and Cypress Streets. House was built in 1857 by the colony's founder, George Hanson, a Los Angeles surveyor, known as the "Father of Anaheim". The Mother Colony is the name given to the group of a

German-Americans German Americans (german: Deutschamerikaner, ) are Americans who have full or partial Germans, German ancestry. With an estimated size of approximately 43 million in 2019, German Americans are the largest of the self-reported ancestry groups by ...

that departed

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...

in 1857 to start farming grapes in

Southern California Southern California (commonly shortened to SoCal) is a geographic and Cultural area, cultural region that generally comprises the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. It includes the Los Angeles metropolitan area, the second most po ...

. Soon the colony's vineyards were the largest in California, but a fungus disease destroyed them in 1885. The colony switched to growing

Valencia orange The Valencia orange is a sweet orange cultivar named after the famed oranges in València, Spain. It was first hybridized by pioneer American agronomist and land developer William Wolfskill in the mid-19th century on his farm in Santa Ana, s ...

s. Actress Helena Modjeska and author

Henryk Sienkiewicz Henryk Adam Aleksander Pius Sienkiewicz ( , ; 5 May 1846 – 15 November 1916), also known by the pseudonym Litwos (), was a Polish writer, novelist, journalist and Nobel Prize laureate. He is best remembered for his historical novels, especi ...

(''

Quo Vadis ''Quō vādis?'' (, ) is a Latin phrase meaning "Where are you marching?". It is also commonly translated as "Where are you going?" or, poetically, "Whither goest thou?" The phrase originates from the Christian tradition regarding Saint Pete ...

'') came from the Mother Colony. In 1929, the house was taken over by the Mother Colony Chapter of the

Daughters of the American Revolution The Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) is a lineage-based membership service organization for women who are directly descended from a person involved in the United States' efforts towards independence. A non-profit group, they promote ...

. Since 1929, the house has been an Orange County museum. The City of Anaheim purchased the house in 1950, and since 1962 the Anaheim Public Library has managed it. Next to the Mother Colony house is the two-story historic John Woelke House. Modjeska House is also a

California Historical Landmark A California Historical Landmark (CHL) is a building, structure, site, or place in California that has been determined to have statewide historical landmark significance. Criteria Historical significance is determined by meeting at least one of ...

George Hansen

George Hansen, known as the "Father of Anaheim", was a surveyor and a

civil engineer A civil engineer is a person who practices civil engineering – the application of planning, designing, constructing, maintaining, and operating infrastructure while protecting the public and environmental health, as well as improving existing ...

. Hansen was born in Fiume,

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

in 1824. He departed Austria in 1850 and came to California by sailing to

Peru , image_flag = Flag of Peru.svg , image_coat = Escudo nacional del Perú.svg , other_symbol = Great Seal of the State , other_symbol_type = Seal (emblem), National seal , national_motto = "Fi ...

around

Cape Horn Cape Horn ( es, Cabo de Hornos, ) is the southernmost headland of the Tierra del Fuego archipelago of southern Chile, and is located on the small Hornos Island. Although not the most southerly point of South America (which are the Diego Ramírez ...

. He arrived at Los Angeles in 1853. He took out a loan of $100 and bought surveying equipment. In 1853 and 1854 his first job was to survey a large part of Los Angeles County with Major Henry Hancock. In 1868, he was president of the company that built the dam at Echo Park to provide drinking water to the Los Angeles hill houses. He moved to Orange County and designed Anaheim as head of the Los Angeles Vineyard Company. He died on November 10, 1897. He never married. His estate went to Alfred S. Solano, his adopted son and work partner. Hansen was highly educated, speaking his native

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ger ...

, as well as French,

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

and

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Can ...

Anaheim Founders' Park

Founders' Park has the Pioneer House of the Mother Colony and the Woelke-Stoffel House of Queen Anne style. The park also hosts city landmark 1876, a

Moreton Bay Fig ''Ficus macrophylla'', commonly known as the Moreton Bay fig or Australian banyan, is a large evergreen banyan tree of the family Moraceae native to eastern Australia, from the Wide Bay–Burnett region in the north to the Illawarra in New So ...

tree, a

Carriage House A carriage house, also called a remise or coach house, is an outbuilding which was originally built to house horse-drawn carriages and the related tack. In Great Britain the farm building was called a cart shed. These typically were open f ...

, a

vegetable garden The traditional kitchen garden, vegetable garden, also known as a potager (from the French ) or in Scotland a kailyaird, is a space separate from the rest of the residential garden – the ornamental plants and lawn areas. It is used for grow ...

, a small orange grove, a

pump house Pumping stations, also called pumphouses in situations such as drilled wells and drinking water, are facilities containing pumps and equipment for pumping fluids from one place to another. They are used for a variety of infrastructure systems, ...

and a

windmill A windmill is a structure that converts wind power into rotational energy using vanes called windmill sail, sails or blades, specifically to mill (grinding), mill grain (gristmills), but the term is also extended to windpumps, wind turbines, and ...

. These landmarks are preserved to reflect the way of life in the 1880s.

Historic markers

North Gate marker at 777 South Anaheim Boulevard, Anaheim reads "''Anaheim Founded 1857, Location of North Gate"'' (Marker Number 112.) North Gate marker records at Office of Historic Preservation reads: "''A wall or fence of willow poles that took root and grew was planted around the Anaheim Colony to keep out the herds of wild cattle that roamed the surrounding country. Gates were erected at the north, east, south, and west ends of the two principal streets of the colony. The north gate, on the highway to Los Angeles, was the main entrance to the city."'' The marker for the Pioneer House of the Mother Colony reads: *''First house built in Anaheim, 1857, by George Hanson, founder "The Mother Colony", group selecting name given settlement. This German group left San Francisco to form grape growing colony. Southern California Vineyards became largest in California until destroyed, 1885, by grape disease. Colony started producing Valencia oranges. Here once resided Madame Helena Modjeska, and Henry Sienkiewicz, author of "Quo Vadis".'' Erected 1950 by California Centennials Commission in cooperation with Grace Parlor No. 242, N.D.G.W., Mother Colony Parlor No. 281, N.S.G.W. (Marker Number 201.) Marker on The Mother Colony reads "t''his house was built in 1857 by Mr. Geo. Hansen the promoter of that little colony of Germans who founded what is now the City of Anaheim, and originally stood on N. Los Angeles Street between Chartres & Cypress Streets. The building was a gift from Mr. E.E. Beazley and the lot on which it now stands was donated by Marie Horstmann Dwyer in memory of her parents who were pioneers and purchased the land October 1st, 1860. That the pioneers of Anaheim and what they did for us shall not be forgotten this house is preserved by the Mother Colony Chapter Daughters of the American Revolution."''

References

External links

*
Anaheim Historical SocietyAnaheim, California
on the

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