More about Garden Grove California

The city of Garden Grove is located in the northern part of Orange County, and is home to an estimated 174,715 residents as of the beginning of 2009. The city was originally founded in 1874 by Alonzo Clark, and the same year as the founding of the city, a school district and Methodist churched were organized. The town remained a small area until the railroad arrived in 1905 and helped the town to grow with orange, walnut, chili pepper and strawberry crops. After World War II, the town experienced a large boom and was officially incorporated in 1956 with a population of 44,000. By 1970, the city’s population had exploded to 120,000, and a large number of Asian residents began making their homes in the city. The city hosts several festivals every year including the Shakespeare Orange County and the Garden Grove Strawberry Festival. The Shakespeare Orange County is held in the Festival Amphitheater each summer and outs on plays from the famous English poet and playwright, William Shakespeare. The Garden Grove Strawberry Festival is another annual festival held on Memorial Day weekend, and is the largest community festival in the western portion of the country. The festival attracts approximately 250,000 visitors and celebrates the agricultural past of the city, including the lone strawberry field that still exists in the city at Euclid Street and Hazard Avenue. The city is most known for Robert H. Schuller’s Crystal Cathedral which hosts several religious broadcasts. The church was founded in 1955 by Schuller and was designed by architect Philip Johnson. The Megachurch was built using over 10,000 pieces of rectangular glass which is glued on using silicone based glue instead of being bolted onto the structure to ensure that it will be able withstand an earthquake that is up to 8.0 magnitude. The term “Crystal Cathedral” is not the official name of the structure, nor does it house a bishop’s officially seat. The city is also noted for lending its name to the title and lyrics of the song “Garden Grove” by the well-known Southern California band Sublime.