Fountain Valley, "A Nice Place to Live," was incorporated in 1957, before which it was known as Talbert (also as Gospel Swamp). The name of Fountain Valley refers to the very high water table in the area at the time the name was chosen -- it was said that one could merely poke a stick in the ground and a fountain would come up.
A classic bedroom community, Fountain Valley is a safe, middle-class, residential area. Most of the city'sresidents commute to work in other urban centers. However, unlike most commuter towns, Fountain Valley is by no means a rural or "exurban" city, as it is located in the heart of Orange County's sprawling developed landscape. In recent years, Fountain Valley has actually seen an increase in workers commuting to the city, with the growth of an office/commercial center along Newhope St. where such companies as Starbucks occupy office space.
Fountain Valley is home to Mile Square Regional Park, 640-acre park containing two lakes, three 18-hole golf courses, playing fields, picnic shelters, and a twenty acre urban nature area planted with California native plants, a 55 acre recreation center with tennis courts, basketball courts, racquetball courts, a gym, and the Kingston Boys & Girls Club; also a community center and a new senior center that opened in June, 2005.
Fountain Valley has blooming commercial innovations but little industrial production of its own. The limited agricultural production consists of several fields of strawberries.
Fountain Valley is home to the national headquarters of Hyundai Motor Company and the global headquarters of memory chip manufacturer Kingston Technologies. The commercial area along Newhope St. is also home to offices for companies such as D-Link, Starbucks, Satura and the Orange County Register. There are also a limited number of light industrial companies in this area.
