Orange County is a far older place than some may think.
“Growing up here in Southern California, you get used to ignoring the past. People like to think that there is no past,” said Earl Potter, a docent with volunteer group Amigos de la Colina at Heritage Hill Historic Park.
“The history here is part of our local culture. Knowing history enriches the experience of where you live.”
Heritage Hill Historic Park – in the City of Lake Forest – offers visitors a walk through some of Orange County’s history, primarily the aftermath of the Spanish settlement.
The buildings on the property show over 100 years of Saddleback Valley history, from the Mexican Rancho era of the 1800s through citrus farming of the 1900s.
“It is the only historical site in the County to offer a chronological interpretation of the County’s past through a combination of historic buildings spanning several periods of historical development set in a historic village setting,” said Danielle Kennedy, Public Information Officer for OC Parks.
The park is open Tuesday through Saturday each week, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Park admission and parking is free. Walking tours inside the historic buildings are also free, and are available Wednesday, Thursday and Saturday at 11 a.m.
Heritage Hill houses four fully restored historic buildings, including the Serrano Adobe, an 1800s El Toro schoolhouse, a late 1800s church and a Saddleback Valley ranch house from the early 1900s.
Built in the late 1800s, the Serrano Adobe is the oldest surviving house in Saddleback Valley.
“The Spanish expedition passed right through where we live today,” Potter said during a walking tour of the park.
“I love the history here, but in particular the adobe is my favorite. It is original to the property,” he said. “In those days, Orange County was all rolling hills and cattle.”
Potter, an Orange County native, has volunteered as a docent at Heritage Hill since 2018.
The adobe was named a state historic landmark in 1935.
The park also pays homage to the county’s earliest residents, the Acjachemen people, through a replica kiicha hut.
Indigenous peoples had already lived in the region for thousands of years before the Spanish expeditions of the late 1700s, and the establishment of Mission San Juan Capistrano in 1776.
The El Toro Grammar School was built in 1890, shortly following the founding of El Toro in the 1880s.
First through eighth grade education was taught to both boys and girls of the community until the schoolhouse’s closure in 1914 due to the construction of a newer schoolhouse, according to Potter.
El Toro would go on to become the City of Lake Forest during its incorporation in 1991.
The building was eventually left vacant, until it was moved to Heritage Hill in 1976 alongside a historic church building.
St. George’s Episcospal Mission was the first church in Saddleback Valley, dedicated one year after the El Toro Grammar School.
In the 1920s and 1930s, there was an exodus of families from El Toro due to seasons of extreme rainfall and drought, resulting in the suspension of regular church services. By 1942, more of the Episcopalian congregation had returned.
A continued influx of Episcopalians in the region resulted in a newer facility opening in 1969, according to Amigos de la Colina.
The walking tour’s final stop is the park’s youngest building: the Harvey Bennett Ranch House, which was constructed in 1908.
The house stands today as a reminder of the county’s legacy of citrus farming.
The property was home to citrus farmer Harvey Bennett, his wife Frances and their six children. Bennett would go on to develop thirteen strains of citrus, according to Amigos de la Colina.
The home was occupied until the 1970s, when it was donated to the county to be placed at Heritage Hill.
Today, it is furnished as an El Toro home would have been in the 1920s and 1930s.
Potter emphasized throughout the walking tour the importance of knowing and preserving Orange County’s history.
“It is important to know about our past and preserve it, there is a lot of richness here,” Potter said.
Erika Taylor is a Voice of OC Tracy Wood Reporting Fellow and photojournalist. You can find her on Instagram @camerakeepsrolling.