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Garden Grove is a city centrally located in northern Orange County. As of 2004, the city population was 170,000 people. California State Route 22, also known as the Garden Grove Freeway, passes through the city from east to west. Garden Grove is home to a substantial Vietnamese American population, forming the northern edge of Orange County's Little Saigon, and also to a large Korean American population centered along Garden Grove Boulevard west of Brookhurst Street. The city is known outside the Southern California area for being the home of Robert H. Schuller's Crystal Cathedral, from which religious broadcasts are made.
Garden Grove was founded by Alonzo Cook in 1874. It remained a small rural crossroads until the arrival of the railroad in 1905. The rail connection helped the town prosper with crops of oranges, walnuts, chili peppers and strawberries. In 1933, much of the town's central business district was destroyed by the Long Beach earthquake, and one person was killed. The post-World War II boom led to rapid development, and Garden Grove was incorporated as a city in 1956 with about 44,000 residents.
By 1960, population had grown to 85,000; by 1970 it was 120,000. In the late Seventies and Eighties a significant Asian population (primarily Vietnamese and Korean) began to locate in the area. In recent years, Harbor Boulevard has become a booming entertainment and tourism area, served by nine high-rise hotels. Well-known Garden Grove residents include actor Steve Martin, adventurer Steve Fossett and baseball star Lenny Dykstra. Garden Grove also lends its name to a song by the famous Southern California band Sublime, on their eponymous album.
The city has a distinct community within it, West Garden Grove, which is located in the westernmost portion of the city.
The annual Strawberry Festival, over Memorial Day weekend, is one of the largest community festivals in the western United States, attracting an estimated 250,000 visitors. It celebrates the city's agricultural past, which include crops such as chili peppers, eggs, oranges, walnuts and strawberries. One strawberry field remains within city limits, at Euclid Street and Hazard Avenue.
The Garden Grove Unified School Disctrict is the third largest school district in Orange County and the twelveth largest in the state. Garden Grove not only has great educational options within its borders, it is also located in a region rich in higher education opportunities.
It is the goal of the district to ensure that all students have the opportunity upon leaving high school to choose from a wide variety of options including four-year colleges and universities, technical education, or a skilled career. The opportunity to choose among these paths requires that students achieve proficiency as defined by state standards in core academic subjects and achieve proficiency in the use of the English language. These proficiencies will make it possible for students to access rigorous high school courses and enable them to graduate ready for college and skilled careers. |
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The Crystal Cathedral is a Protestant, Christian megachurch in the city of Garden Grove, in Orange County, California. The church was founded in 1955 by Rev. Dr. Robert H. Schuller on the campus of what was known until that time as Garden Grove Community Church. World-famous architect Philip Johnson designed the main sanctuary building, which was constructed using over 10,000 rectangular panes of glass and which can hold over 3,000 worshippers. The church is also known for its 280 rank, five manual pipe organ constructed by Fratelli Ruffatti. The instrument incorporates the large Aeolian-Skinner pipe organ built in 1962 for New York's Avery Fisher Hall.
The name "Crystal Cathedral" describes the building's size and beauty, and does not mean it is a cathedral in the Roman Catholic, Anglican, or Lutheran sense of the word: the Reformed Church in America is governed by elders, while a cathedral is usually the term for a church where one finds a bishop's official seat, or cathedra, nor is the sanctuary constructed of crystal. The title reflects Schuller's frequent use of alliteration, both within his sermon titles and points, and book titles. |
| Garden Grove is home to three stage theaters, the Garden Grove Playhouse, Gem Theater and the Festival Amphitheater. The Amphitheater hosts Shakespeare Orange County, which presents an annual Shakespeare Festival each summer. All venues are owned by the City of Garden Grove, but operated by outside entities. The Garden Grove Playhouse is operated by a non-profit group of the same name. The Gem Theater is currently without a regular operator, but the Garden Grove Community Foundation has applied to take over the facility. The Festival Amphitheater is managed by Thomas Bradac, the producing artistic director of Shakespeare Orange County. |
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