1880s to 1930s Two miles directly to the east of Midway City was the now-
defunct Town of Bolsa, which was established in 1870. Midway City's northernmost boundary, Hazard Avenue, is named after the
great-grandparents of Clyde Hazard: early
American pioneers Robert Samuel and Betsy Ann (
née White) Hazard, who moved from
Hitchcock County, Nebraska with their children to the Westminster district in August 1881 and subsequently purchased forty acres northwest of the Town of Bolsa on February 6, 1882. Ann was a direct descendant of
the White family, who, in 1620, sailed from England to
Plymouth, Massachusetts on the
Mayflower. In 1915, one of the top United States
poultry judges, W. M. Wise, moved from
Michigan to perform breeding and service work for Pacific Southwest Poultry Farm in Midway City. Seven years later, Midway City began to take shape in 1922 when John H. Harper purchased of land based on the location of a local
stagecoach stop and needs of the workers in the
Huntington Beach Oil Field located west of the stagecoach stop. The area, which currently includes four unincorporated, "anemic" sections as a result of annexation for the Westminster business district, is known as Midway City; the largest section looks like a crooked letter "P". Midway City is six miles from
Santa Ana, six miles from
Huntington Beach, and seven miles from
Long Beach, giving rise to the Midway City name. Harper Street, which vertically bisects the largest of the four Midway City sections, is named after John Harper. After learning of American aviator
Charles Lindbergh's famed May 20–21, 1927
first solo transatlantic flight via non-stop fixed-wing aircraft flight between America and mainland Europe, Three months later, by August 1927, Zenith Aircraft Corporation built a huge, lightweight
tri-motor aircraft named
Schofield Albatross in a hangar/factory at Midway City Airport. the Zenith Albatross Z-12 eventually was sold to
Hollywood and used to represent a crashed
Fokker in the 1928 film
Conquest directed by filmmaker
Roy Del Ruth. In 1928, American aviator Charles Lindbergh and some investors stopped off at
Eddie Martin Airport looking for another airfield field in what was to become Midway City to see Zenith's Albatross. That same year, the politically powerful
Ladies Social and Civic Club of Midway City built a community clubhouse at the corner of Bolsa Avenue and Monroe Street from land donated by Harper that the
Chamber of Commerce and other organizations subsequently used. The proactive
women's group, which originally met at John Harper's house and included Harper's wife, In 1932, the Ladies Social and Civic Club of Midway City renamed itself as the Midway City Women's Club. The
Long Beach earthquake of March 10, 1933 had such a significant impact on Midway City that it still was a topic of interest for the residents in August 1933. Three years after renaming itself, in 1935, the club established a Midway City branch of the
Orange County Public Library and joined the
General Federation of Women's Clubs. a
New Deal U.S. federal agency that, between April 1935 and December 1936, relocated struggling urban and rural families to communities planned by the federal government. The loan stood out in that it was the first loan by the Resettlement Administration to a self-help cooperative and led to other cooperatives seeking money from the Resettlement Administration. The Midway City Volunteer Fire Department was formed in 1935. The Midway City Sanitary District, which presently provides sewer and solid waste services to the residents of Midway City and others in its district, was established in January 1939 when its Governing Board held the first meeting at the Fire Hall in Midway City. The Midway City Volunteer Fire Department received a
fire station in 1952—Orange County Fire Authority Station #25—and eventually became a permanent part of Division I of the
Orange County Fire Authority. However, after 80 years of operation, by 2011, the Midway City Post Office was identified by the U.S. Postal Service as one of 112
California post office locations "that have not seen enough postal customers to generate the revenue necessary to keep them open." In December 2011, the U.S. Postal Service delayed the closure of Midway's post office until Congress first passed legislation to overhaul the United States Postal Service. This Midway City site later would be annexed by
Westminster to develop and receive tax revenues from Elmore Toyota at 15300 Beach Boulevard. In 1942, local landmark Midway City Feed Store open to service horse owners in the surrounding areas and also began selling rabbits,
guinea pigs, baby chicks, ducklings, and
goslings from its large yellow barn. Six years later in 1948, the
Brothers of Saint Patrick order was established in Midway City as the United States foundation and headquarters of Patrician Brothers, an
Ireland-based Roman Catholic congregation for the religious and literary education of youth and the instruction of the faithful in
Christian piety. The brothers work extended in the
Diocese of Orange County and
Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Los Angeles. At the end of the decade, in 1949, Dick Riedel and Midway City's Bill Barris of Fullerton Air Service, sponsored by the Fullerton Chamber of Commerce, set a world flight endurance record from
Fullerton Municipal Airport, keeping their modified
Aeronca Sedan, the
Sunkist Lady aloft for 1,008 hours and 2 minutes. Seven years later in 1956, the city of Westminster sought to incorporate Midway City, Barber City, and Westminster into a new city called
Tri-City. In September 1957, voters in the former Westminster and Baraber City areas voted to change the name Tri-City to
Westminster. Three years later in 1989, the county added Midway City back in Westminster's sphere and renamed the 1987 built park
Stanton Park, after
Roger R. Stanton, a supervisor on the
Orange County Board of Supervisors.
1990s to present Celtic Gold Academy of
Irish Dance was founded at Brother's of St. Patrick in 1990. In March 1993,
Orange County Supervisor Don Roth admitted to violating California state ethics laws, agreed to pay $50,000 in fines, and do 200 hours of community service work in connection with his 1990–1992 role in overruling a 1990 Orange County Planning Commission decision and approving a $5-million condominium project on land in Midway City. In 1994, the
Ocean View School District banned the game
POGs, a game played with decorated milk caps known as POGs, from Midway City and other
elementary and
middle school campuses, asserting that POGs was akin to
gambling. The Brothers of St. Patrick Division of the
Ancient Order of Hibernians in America was established at Brother's of St. Patrick in 1995. Three years later in 1998, freed Nigerian political prisoner
Beko Ransome-Kuti spoke at Midway City's the Brother's of St. Patrick's to thank residents of Midway City who joined a letter-writing and
Shell Oil boycott campaign on his behalf. In September 1999, workers repairing broken water lines in the Midway City 15000 block of Cedarwood Avenue () dug up a 500-year-old
human skull and teeth, and
seashells when they reached about three feet down. In 2001, American Legion Post 555 in Midway City renamed itself the Albert E. Schwab American Legion Post after Private First Class
Albert Earnest Schwab (July 17, 1920 – May 7, 1945), the brother of a Legion Post 555 member and a
United States Marine who was
posthumously awarded the United States' highest military honor — the
Medal of Honor — for his heroic actions during the
Battle of Okinawa. That same year, Midway City resident Ruben Hipolito attained the rank of
Eagle Scout at age 12, which the national
Boy Scouts of America office in
Irving, Texas identified as a rare event. Eight years after attaining the rank of Eagle Scout, Hipolito was selected in 2009 from among 3.5 million scouts nationwide as one of six scouts to represent the Boy Scouts of America organization before the
U.S. president and
Congress. Hipolito later receive a special commendation from the mayor of the City of Huntington Beach for representing the city on the trip to
Washington, D.C. to meet with President
Barack Obama. In January 2003, H.O.M.E.S., Inc. opened Midway City's Jackson Aisle Apartments, a 29 unit, $2.8 million apartment complex that provides
affordable housing to low income individuals who additionally are
mentally ill. H.O.M.E.S. selected Midway City for its housing complex site because the area is county owned, which made it easier to buy property than had they selected an area incorporated into a city. The memorial was to feature U.S. history and important events in the history of the
Vietnamese American community. Critics felt that "plaques in a wall" did not justify spending so much money. ==Geography==