Commentary
The recent piece, “Who Are the Irvines?” provided a little glimpse of the family’s impact on Orange County. Except for a couple of seconds, this family’s impact and heritage would not have even happened.
The story is a fascinating portion of Orange County’s history, and it was captured by Robert Glass Cleland in his book, “The Irvine Ranch,” published by The Huntington Library, copyright 1966.
Orange County has become famous for its land development and the resulting boom and bust cycles in the real estate market.
The original owner of the ranch, James Irvine, born in 1827, owned the Irvine & Co., a wholesale produce and grocery merchant in San Francisco. The profits from his business were invested into income-producing real estate. He and investment partners purchased ranchos from the Californios that could not hold on to their land due to drought and other circumstances. He would eventually buy out his partners….