Old Towne Orange: a glimpse of Orange County’s history

By Camelia Heins

Old Towne Orange has long been a time capsule of Orange County’s history. With antique stores galore and vintage buildings dating back to the early 1900s, the Old Towne Orange Historic District and Plaza give OC residents a chance to peruse through the old-fashioned town.

All photos by Camelia Heins.

The Old Towne Orange Historic District and Plaza is roughly one square mile filled with over 1,300 vintage buildings and is recognized as the largest National Register District in California.

The new mixes with the old; a Starbucks Coffee shop does its daily business inside the old Orange Daily News building from the 1900s.

Many of Old Towne Orange’s old buildings from the early 1900s are still intact including a Wells Fargo Bank that used to hold the First National Bank of Orange.

Watson’s Soda Fountain Cafe has become a staple of Old Towne Orange’s Plaza Square Park and has been serving old-fashioned sodas since 1899.

Country Roads Antiques is a well-known establishment in the area and for antiquers across California. The store has an open layout with rows of differently curated rooms, all displaying their own unique vintage goodies for customers to purchase.

From vintage clothing, old-fashioned furniture to miscellaneous knick-knacks, the antique stores in Old Towne Orange have it all.

Old Towne Orange is known as the “Antique Capital of California” with over 40 antique shops to choose from. At Country Roads Antiques, old photographs, vintage frames and license plates and antique furniture are commonly seen throughout the store.