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Fullerton is a city located in northern Orange County. As of the 2000 census, the city had a total population of 126,003.
It was founded in 1887 by George and Edward Amerige and named for George H. Fullerton, who secured the land on behalf of the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway. Historically it was a center of agriculture, notably groves of Valencia oranges and other citrus crops; petroleum extraction; transportation; and manufacturing. It is home to several educational institutions, notably the California State University, Fullerton.
| During the last quarter of the century, manufacturing growth leveled off as ever-soaring property prices, increasing environmental regulation, traffic, and other pressures increased. By the late 20th century the city had lost much of its rural character in favor of suburban housing tracts and shopping centers. |
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Cal State Fullerton or CSUF, the twelfth member of the California State University system, is located on 236 acres of a former orange grove in northeast Fullerton. In the fall semester of 2006, 35,921 students were enrolled in the undergraduate and graduate degree programs, making it the largest university in the CSU system and the second largest university in the state of California in terms of enrollment.
Fullerton College is a two-year community college, the oldest in continuous operation in California. Part of the North Orange County Community College District, it is situated adjacent to Fullerton Union High School.
Other institutions of higher education in Fullerton include Western State University College of Law, Hope International University, and Southern California College of Optometry.
The city also prides itself on its public schools, including Fullerton Union High School, the oldest high school in the Fullerton Joint Union High School District as well as all of Orange County, home of historic Plummer Auditorium and the Academy of the Arts magnet program, as well as science magnet school Troy High School. |
| The flat downtown area is laid out in a grid plan centered at the intersection of Harbor Boulevard and Commonwealth Avenue. After recent renewal and beautification projects, it has attracted specialty stores, coffee shops, and restaurants, and has uncharacteristically retained much of its downtown character. Southeastern Fullerton is historically the industrial sector, and is home to small manufacturing, particularly east of Raymond Street and south of Commonwealth.
The hilly northern and western parts of Fullerton were for most of its history groves of citrus trees, open scrubland, and oil fields. While equestrian trails and many old estates endure along Bastanchury Road, the meandering roads through these areas today mostly connect a succession of housing tract subdivisions and commercial developments. North-central and northwestern Fullerton is broadly referred to as Coyote Hills, while the name Sunny Hills refers to the adjacent lands to the south and west. In recent years, the Fullerton City Council has tried to develop all the remaining open land throughout the city. The most notable impending project, in West Coyote Hills, has been met with high opposition by many of the citizens in the area. West Coyote Hills is in the far northwest of the city, and borders the cities of La Mirada and La Habra. |
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