Fountain Valley encompasses nearly 10-square miles and has a population of more than 55,000. Its central location means that beaches, shopping centers, the John Wayne Airport and entertainment facilities such as Disneyland are all within minutes. The city is popular with merchants thanks to its well-educated and affluent population base. Several community colleges as well as the University of California--Irvine are all located nearby.

Although Orange County has grown substantially over the past two decades, it hasn’t always been that way. Thousands of years ago, Orange County was nothing more than a vast, coastal plain. Roaming herds of elk, bison and mastodon were its only inhabitants.

The colorful pageantry of human history in Orange County began at some undetermined point in the distant past when Shoshone Indians came to dwell along the coast and in the lower canyons of the mountains. Theirs was a simple form of existence: they lived off of the abundance of the land.

It was late in July in 1769 when the first party of European explorers reached the boundaries of present-day Orange County. Members of the expedition named the region "The Valley of Saint Anne" (Santa Ana). It was to this valley that Father Serra returned six years later, where he proceeded with the work of establishing the Church and converting the local people.

While the East Coast of North America was engaged in revolution and spectacular change, the West Coast too was undergoing a quiet and almost undetected transformation. Father Serra dedicated the Mission of San Juan Capistrano, Orange County's first permanent settlement, on November 1, 1776. The Mission became a self-sustaining unit based upon an agricultural economy. Its chapel and adjoining structure were the first signs of civilization erected on the fertile, virgin soil of the Santa Ana Region.