Anaheim through the Archive Lens
Step into Anaheim, where history and creativity are fused together. Here, the past and the future live side by side. From orange groves, pioneer homes and theme park castles, this city has it all. In English, Anaheim means “Home by the river“. The name is a combination of “Ana,” referring to the Santa Ana River, and “heim,” the German word for home.
📖 Founders’ Park
Start at Founders’ Park, a quiet green space nestled in the heart of the city, where Anaheim’s story began in 1857. Stroll past the Victorian‑era Mother Colony House and Woelke‑Stoffel House, two of Anaheim’s oldest homes, and imagine a time when this land was lined with grapevines and citrus groves. Founders’ Park is a living reminder that before theme parks and freeways, Anaheim was a pioneer colony — full of visionaries planting the seeds of something big.
Founders’ Park marks the western edge of the original Anaheim Colony and showcases some of the city’s most important historic landmarks.
At its heart stands the Mother Colony House, built in 1857 by Anaheim founder George Hansen. As the oldest surviving wood-frame structure in Orange County, it narrowly escaped demolition when it was moved here in 1928, thanks to land donated by Marie Horstmann Dwyer, a descendant of one of Anaheim’s pioneer families.
Beside it is the Woelke-Stoffel House, a striking Queen Anne–style home built in 1894 by John Woelke. Also threatened with demolition decades later, it was saved in 1949 by John Dwyer and relocated to this site.
The park is also home to a magnificent Moreton Bay fig tree, planted around 1876. According to local lore, this tree inspired the design of Disneyland’s Swiss Family Robinson Treehouse.
The City of Anaheim expanded the park in 2006 and 2007, adding improvements and officially dedicating Founders’ Park on July 23, 2011. This site provides a lasting tribute to the city’s pioneering spirit.
You can visit the Founders’ Home to learn about this community. They have an adobe, Victorian house, and a historic barn.
Anaheim Founders’ Park is managed by the city. You can visit it at 400 North West Street, Anaheim, CA 92805.
🏰 Disneyland
Disneyland, where Walt’s vision became reality in 1955. The Walt Disney Archives, which debuted at Disneyland’s 1970s D23 events and now a traveling exhibit as featured at Bowers Museum in 2021.
As you walk down Main Street, U.S.A., look for the little nods to American history among the classic storefronts. Walt Disney said, “For those of us who remember the carefree time it recreates, Main Street will bring back happy memories. For younger visitors, it is an adventure in turning back the calendar to the days of their grandfather’s youth.”
“As of 2010, the Disney Company earned $38.1 billion in revenue, and Disneyland was the second-most visited park internationally (just behind Magic Kingdom in Disney World), with approximately 16 million visitors within the year. Based on this high degree of exposure coupled with its 88 years of existence, Disney’s version of history – or “Distory” – has become a part of the collective memory of America’s past” [Nostalgia Culture in Disneyland, Kristi Keller]
Disneyland is offering new experiences for its 70th Anniversary.
On July 14, 2025 Melanie Ponce is providing a behind-the-scenes experience with a social media takeover.
Disneyland is celebrating its 70th anniversary on July 17, 2025.
A New Guided Tour
The Walt Disney Archives
Make sure to see Bowers Museum’s Inside the Walt Disney Archives: 50 Years of Preserving the Magic which is on exhibit from March 7, 2020 – June 20, 2021. This...
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🎨 MUZEO Museum & Cultural Center
End your day at MUZEO, Anaheim’s downtown art and culture centerpiece. Located in the historic Carnegie Library building. The historic Carnegie Building, built with funding from steel magnate and philanthropist Andrew Carnegie, served as Anaheim’s library from 1908 to 1963. MUZEO hosts vibrant traveling exhibitions that reflect Anaheim’s diversity and creativity. MUZEO reminds visitors that preserving and sharing stories through art, artifacts, and voices is what keeps a city alive.
Muzeo houses the offices of the Anaheim Historical Society, honoring the past while showcasing changing, innovative exhibits in art, history, contemporary culture, and science. The center also hosts concerts, workshops, walking tours, poetry readings, family events, and more.
