Costa Mesa

History

Members of the Tongva and Acjachemen nations long inhabited the area. The Tongva villages of Lupukngna, at least 3,000 years old, and the shared Tongva and Acjachemen village of Genga, at least 9,500 years old, were located in the area on the bluffs along the Santa Ana River. After the 1769 expedition of Gaspar de Portolà, a Spanish expedition led by Junípero Serra named the area Vallejo de Santa Ana (Valley of Saint Anne). On November 1, 1776, Mission San Juan Capistrano became the area's first permanent European settlement in Alta California, New Spain. In 1801, the Spanish Empire granted to Jose Antonio Yorba, which he named Rancho San Antonio. After the Mexican-American War, California became part of the United States, and American settlers arrived in this area and formed the town of Fairview in the 1880s near the modern intersection of Harbor Boulevard and Adams Avenue. To the south, meanwhile, the community of Harper had arisen on a siding of the Santa Ana and Newport Railway, named after a local rancher. This town prospered on its agricultural goods. On May 11, 1920, Harper changed its name to Costa Mesa, which means "coastal tableland" in Spanish. Costa Mesa surged in population during and after World War II, as many thousands trained at Santa Ana Army Air Base and returned after the war with their families. Within three decades of incorporation, the city's population had nearly quintupled.

Geography

Costa Mesa is located southeast of Los Angeles, and northwest of San Diego. Costa Mesa encompasses a total of with its southernmost border only from the Pacific Ocean. Costa Mesa has a semi-arid climate (Köppen climate classification BSh) with mild temperatures year round. Rain falls primarily in the winter months and is close to nonexistent during the summer.

Race & ethnicity

Largest nearby schools

• Fountain Valley High
  High · Fountain Valley · 3,180 students · 26.3:1 ratio
• Santa Ana High
  High · Santa Ana · 3,135 students · 23.2:1 ratio
• Huntington Beach High
  High · Huntington Beach · 2,807 students · 26.2:1 ratio
• Arnold O. Beckman High
  High · Irvine · 2,798 students · 26.6:1 ratio
• Westminster High
  High · Westminster · 2,637 students · 24.2:1 ratio
• Segerstrom High
  High · Santa Ana · 2,489 students · 25.4:1 ratio
• Foothill High
  High · Santa Ana · 2,276 students · 27.4:1 ratio
• Newport Harbor High
  High · Newport Beach · 2,268 students · 23.9:1 ratio