Orange County was partitioned from
Los Angeles County in 1889. An earlier attempt to partition what would have been Anaheim County (with its county seat at
Anaheim) had failed in the State Senate after passing the Assembly in 1870. The name "Orange County" was coined in 1872, and additional attempts to partition the new county failed in 1876 (as "Santa Ana County") and 1881 (as "Orange County"); each of these early attempts fixed the northern border at the
San Gabriel River, leaving Anaheim as a logical county seat, as it would be in the center. In June 1893, the county purchased a site for
a new permanent courthouse from Spurgeon for , in the block bounded by Sixth, Church, West, and Sycamore (now Santa Ana Blvd, Civic Center Dr, Broadway, and Sycamore, respectively); however, the first building erected on this site was the county jail, completed in 1897. Blee & McNeill were selected as the constructors and the cornerstone was laid on July 4, 1900. The 1901 courthouse was remodeled in 1964–65 to add four more courtrooms on the first floor and air conditioning, but the facilities remained inadequate and ground was broken on September 16, 1966 for a new 11-story courthouse, designed in part by
Richard Neutra. Preservation efforts for the 1901 courthouse saw it named to the list of
California Historical Landmarks (No. 837) on March 11, 1970, A seismic evaluation in 1979 concluded the building did not meet current codes, and the last county employees were moved by October 30. The building was gutted and reconstructed with steel beams from 1983 to 1985. By 1992, the interior restoration was complete. • ==Venues==