14Titles
Explore publications and collections from the past.
Community History Archive Partner
Anaheim Public Library
Anaheim, Califorina
Explore this community history collection to discover the people, places, organizations, and events of Anaheim.
1799 to 2023Dates represented
See individual titles for available dates.
216,060Archive pages
Historical pages reported for this collection.
Explore local history
Discover the people, places, and stories of Anaheim, Califorina.
Get to know Anaheim, Califorina in earlier years through photographs and illustrations as well as cemetery and funeral home records shared in the Anaheim Public Library's digital archive. Its fourteen titles include material from 1799 to 2023. The collection also includes local history resources; meeting agendas and minutes; land and property records; and personal writings.
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Selected titles
Anaheim Public Library shares titles including “Anoranco” and “Union Water County Records”.
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Free and open access
No subscription or payment required.
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Different views of the past
Personal writing offers an individual perspective. Keep the writer’s words and circumstances distinct from the wider story you are trying to understand. An image adds a visual perspective on the past. Look at what it actually shows, keeping any caption or date with the detail that draws you in.
A family memory can be the beginning of a larger story. Reading different sources together may reveal another detail about the people and experiences you hope to understand. Start with a visible detail or caption that raises a question. Separate what the image shows from what you infer, and compare another source where available. Explore the archive online for free, without a subscription.
Explore the collection
Titles in this collection
Browse fourteen titles and 216,060 digitized pages, with material from 1799 to 2023. A partnership between Anaheim Public Library and Advantage Archives makes this collection available. Some years or items may be missing between the dates shown.
A familiar name or place can be the beginning of a story. Explore the titles below to see where that connection leads.
Anoranco
13,084 pages from 1923 to 1963
Board of Directors Minutes
1,136 pages from 1893 to 1926
Cemetery Records
2,944 pages from 1903 to 1927
City Directories
110,828 pages from 1872 to 1948
Diaries of George Hansen
24,236 pages from 1866 to 1890
Los Angeles Vineyard Society Minutes and By-Laws Handwritten English
596 pages in 1857
Los Angeles Vineyard Society Minutes and By-Laws Handwritten German
772 pages in 1857
Los Angeles Vineyard Society Minutes and By-Laws Typed English
284 pages in 1857
Lot Plan And Entry Ledger
2,304 pages in 1901
Photos
42,584 pages from 1799 to 2023
Photos
Page count not currently available dates not yet available
The First Los Angeles City and County Directories
864 pages in 1872
The Garden Spot of Southern California
176 pages in 1879
Union Water County Records
16,252 pages from 1859 to 1878
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About the Archive
About The Anaheim History Archive
The Anaheim Public Library’s archive offers a treasure trove of historical content about Anaheim, California. This extensive collection includes historic city and county directories, the diaries of George Hansen, historical photos, and much more!
About the Library
About The Anaheim Public Library
The Anaheim Public Library is dedicated to fostering literacy, lifelong learning, and a love of reading. It accomplishes this through a blend of traditional print materials and modern virtual services. Our mission is to provide information, engage the community, and create a safe space where the diverse members of Anaheim can share, thrive, explore, create, enjoy, honor, celebrate, and connect with one another.
Partner Story
A Brief History of Anaheim
Founded in 1857 by fifty German families who had emigrated from Bavaria, Anaheim is one of California's oldest cities. The name "Anaheim" is derived from "Ana," a reference to the nearby Santa Ana River, and "heim," the German word for home. The original settlers were part of the Los Angeles Vineyard Society and intended to create a thriving wine-producing community. Anaheim quickly established itself as an agricultural hub, first focusing on vineyards and later transitioning to orange groves following the devastation of the grape industry by a blight in the 1880s. The area became known for its lush orange groves, leading to its nickname, "The Orange Grove City." The city's growth accelerated in the mid-20th century, notably with the opening of Disneyland in 1955. This world-famous theme park transformed Anaheim into a major tourist destination and spurred rapid development in the region. Alongside tourism, Anaheim expanded its economic base to include manufacturing and services, fostering a diverse local economy. Today, Anaheim is known for its vibrant community and attractions, including sports venues like the Honda Center and Angel Stadium. It remains a blend of its historical roots and modern growth, continuing to attract visitors from around the world while serving as home to a diverse population.
More ways to explore and share local history
Research Guidance
Follow connections across the collection
A question connected with Anaheim can lead into different parts of the collection shared by Anaheim Public Library. With an image, begin with its caption or date where available; keep visible details separate from identities the image does not establish.
Note the meeting date and body named in the document. Keep agenda items, motions, and recorded minutes distinct: a planned topic is not proof of an action, and minutes are not necessarily a full transcript. Use a detail from one source to choose another, checking that dates and places fit before connecting them. Agreement can strengthen a lead; differences can raise another question.
As you piece together a story from the past, note where each detail came from and why it matters. Include the title, date, and page or item reference. Mark uncertain identifications and unanswered questions so a promising connection does not become an unsupported fact.
Community Partnership
Keeping local history a community resource
This community archive is made possible by the collaboration of the Anaheim Public Library, its community, and Advantage Archives. Together, these partnerships preserve local sources and give people a way to explore, learn from, and share the history around them.
Advantage Archives covers ongoing archive hosting, storage, development, and maintenance. The institution and its community do not pay a subscription, seat license, annual support contract, or other recurring archive-service charge. Local history remains a community resource, not a subscription to maintain.
Would you like to see more of your community's history preserved and accessible? Start a conversation with your library, newspaper publisher, historical or genealogical society, museum, or school about the materials they would like to share and a possible partnership with Advantage Archives.
Learn about partnerships
Stories, research tips, and archive news
Read All About It connects archive research with the people and institutions preserving local history. Explore partner and community stories, project updates, research ideas, and perspectives on digitization, education, and working with primary sources. Use the articles as a starting point for your next question or a new way to share a discovery.
May 7, 2025
Why Microfilm is still important in 2023
Preserving documents on microfilm has been a popular method of storage for many years, and it still holds many benefits today. Here…
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May 7, 2025
Don’t Search For An Obituary By Only Searching For An “Obituary”
In the quest to trace our roots and understand our heritage, obituaries often serve as a crucial starting point. Obituaries are undoubtedly…
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April 9, 2025
Unveiling the Hidden Mysteries: Exploring Cold Cases and Unconventional Clues
Even the most esteemed police forces in the county encounter perplexing cold case files. These unsolved mysteries often leave investigators and genealogists…
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April 1, 2025
This Week in History: March 31st through April 6th
Discover History in The Community History Archives. This week in history, there is absolutely nothing to talk about… April Fools! April…
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March 24, 2025
This Week in History: March 24th through March 30th
Discover History in The Community History Archives. It has officially been a year since I started writing This Week in History,…
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March 18, 2025
It’s Your Community’s History, So Why Rent Something You Own?
We believe that history belongs to the communities where it was made - not locked behind paywalls or inaccessible due to budget restrictions. Subscription-based services and large content aggregators are generally more concerned with "content" and less concerned with the history that content contains. Their models typically involve a reoccurring charge for a plan that renews annually or licensing agreements with the library based on population served or circulation numbers. You are essentially Renting Access To YOUR History.
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