19th century

Garden Grove was founded by Alonzo Cook in 1874. A school district and Methodist church were organized that year. It remained a small rural crossroads and farming community until the arrival of the Pacific Electric Railroad in 1905. The rail connection helped the town prosper with the influx of tourists, visitors and eventually settlers,^[7] and it was noted for its crops of oranges, walnuts, chili peppers and later strawberries.^[8]

20th century

In 1933, much of the town's central business district was destroyed by the Long Beach earthquake, and one person was killed at the high school. The post-World War II boom led to rapid development, and Garden Grove was incorporated as a city in 1956 with about 44,000 residents.

In 1956, Orange County Plaza (now The Promenade) was opened at Chapman and Brookhurst, and upon its expansion in 1959, it had 60 stores, including a J. C. Penney, 2 variety stores and 2 supermarkets, and billed itself as both the largest and the first regional shopping center in Orange County.^[9][10][11]

2010

The 2010 United States Census^[14] reported that Garden Grove had a population of 170,883. The population density was 9,515.3 inhabitants per square mile (3,673.9/km²). The racial makeup of Garden Grove was 68,149 (39.9%) White, 2,155 (1.3%) Black, 983 (0.6%) Native American, 63,451 (37.1%) Asian, 1,110 (0.6%) Pacific Islander, 28,916 (16.9%) from other races, and 6,119 (3.6%) from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 63,079 persons (36.9%). Non-Hispanic whites were 22.6% of the population,^[15] down from 90.6% in 1970.^[16] Vietnamese Americans numbered 47,331 of the population. At 27.7% this was the highest concentration of any city in the United States except for adjacent Westminster.

The Census reported that 168,942 people (98.9% of the population) lived in households, 1,234 (0.7%) lived in non-institutionalized group quarters, and 707 (0.4%) were institutionalized.

There were 46,037 households, out of which 21,361 (46.4%) had children under the age of 18 living in them, 26,659 (57.9%) were opposite-sex married couples living together, 6,866 (14.9%) had a female householder with no husband present, 3,588 (7.8%) had a male householder with no wife present. There were 2,025 (4.4%) unmarried opposite-sex partnerships, and 269 (0.6%) same-sex married couples or partnerships. 6,491 households (14.1%) were made up of individuals, and 2,842 (6.2%) had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 3.67. There were 37,113 families (80.6% of all households); the average family size was 3.94.

The population was spread out, with 43,763 people (25.6%) under the age of 18, 17,383 people (10.2%) aged 18 to 24, 49,105 people (28.7%) aged 25 to 44, 42,106 people (24.6%) aged 45 to 64, and 18,526 people (10.8%) who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 35.6 years. For every 100 females, there were 99.6 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 7.7 males.

There were 47,755 housing units at an average density of 2,659.1 per square mile (1,026.7/km²), of which 26,240 (57.0%) were owner-occupied, and 19,797 (43.0%) were occupied by renters. The homeowner vacancy rate was 1.2%; the rental vacancy rate was 4.6%. 96,308 people (56.4% of the population) lived in owner-occupied housing units and 72,634 people (42.5%) lived in rental housing units.

According to the 2010 United States Census, Garden Grove had a median household income of $59,988, with 15.5% of the population living below the federal poverty line.^[17]

Local government

Garden Grove uses a council-manager form of government. In July 2015, the city was sued by a resident who claimed that the longstanding at-large elections had affected the Latino vote and was in violation of the California Voting Rights Act. On January 26, 2016, the city council voted to settle the lawsuit, and therefore adopted that council members would be voted by district (six districts total) and no longer at-large; the mayor, however, will continue to be elected at-large.^[25] The city council consists of mayor Steve Jones, Phat Bui, George S. Brietigam III, John R. O'Neill, Thu-Ha Nguyen, Stephanie Klopfenstein, and mayor pro tem Kim B. Nguyen.^[26] According to the city's most recent Comprehensive Annual Financial Report, the city's various funds had $206.0 million in revenues, $193.0 million in expenditures, $1,098.9 million in total assets, $251.5 million in total liabilities, and $196.3 million in cash and investments.^[27]

State and federal representation

In the California State Senate, Garden Grove is in the 36th Senate District, represented by Republican Janet Nguyen.

In the California State Assembly, Garden Grove is in the 70th Assembly District, represented by Republican Tri Ta.

In the United States House of Representatives, Garden Grove is in California's 45th congressional district, represented by Republican Michelle Steel.

Politics

According to the California Secretary of State, as of October 22, 2018, Garden Grove has 72,768 registered voters. Of those, 26,604 (36.56%) are registered Democrats, 21,449 (29.48%) are registered Republicans, and 21,941 (30.15%) have declined to state a political party/are independents.^[28]

Although Democrat Kamala Harris easily won California and also won Orange County in the 2016 United States Senate election, Democrat Loretta Sanchez easily won Garden Grove by a 67%–33% margin, her widest margin of victory for any city in Orange County.^[29]

Emergency services

The Garden Grove Police Department provides law enforcement, with mutual aid assistance offered at times by the Anaheim Police Department's helicopter and the Orange County Sheriff's Department Air Unit.

In August 2019, the city of Garden Grove entered into a 10-year contract with the Orange County Fire Authority (OCFA) for fire and rescue services, and merged all existing Garden Grove Fire Department personnel and equipment into the OCFA.^[31]

Entertainment

• Justin Chon, actor
• Wally George, talk-show host
• Scott Klopfenstein, backup singer, keyboardist, trumpeter and guitarist for the ska-punk band Reel Big Fish
• Dexter Holland, lead singer, The Offspring, also wrote the song "The Kids Aren't Alright" about the city^[32]
• Steve Martin, actor, comedian, musician and writer; graduate of Garden Grove High School
• Jennette McCurdy, podcaster, author and actress, iCarly and Sam & Cat
• Monique Powell, lead singer, Save Ferris
• Eunice Pringle, actress, notably who accused movie mogul Alexander Pantages in 1929 of rape
• Kevin 'Noodles' Wasserman, lead guitarist, The Offspring
• Atreyu, a metalcore band
• Kieu Chinh, actress
• Poreotics, dance crew
• Dave Mustaine, lead singer, Megadeth; played baseball in Garden Grove Eastside Little League, lived on Pearce Ave
• Basil "Bill" Poledouris, musician; motion picture film score music composer
• Vicky Nguyen, news reporter, KFYR-TV, NBC Affiliate
• Shubhendra Shankar, musician, composer and graphic artist
• Mick Mars, musician and guitarist for Mötley Crüe
• David J. Peterson, creator of the Dothraki and Valyrian languages from HBO's Game of Thrones

Sports

• Bert Blyleven, Major League Baseball pitcher, Hall of Famer, color commentator, graduate of Santiago High School
• Ed Caruthers, Olympic silver medalist, 1968 Mexico City. Taught at Bolsa Grande High School.
• Bobby Crosby, MLB Rookie of the Year (2004), attended Pacifica High School and La Quinta High School
• Mary Decker, runner in National Track and Field Hall of Fame; grew up in Garden Grove
• Lenny Dykstra, MLB player with Mets, Phillies; graduate of Garden Grove High School
• Amanda Freed, Olympic gold medalist in softball (2004), attended Pacifica High School, Bell Intermediate and Patton Elementary
• Luis Gil, soccer player for Union Omaha
• Gary Hall Sr., Olympic swimmer, silver medalist
• Lorrin "Whitey" Harrison, legendary surfer and surfing innovator
• Mike Iupati, football player
• Jeremy Jackson, mixed martial artist
• Norm Johnson, NFL kicker
• Darryl Kile, MLB pitcher
• Leah O'Brien, softball infielder, Olympic gold medalist 1996
• Craig Paquette, MLB third baseman, graduate of Rancho Alamitos High School
• Nam Phan, mixed martial artist
• Troy Polamalu, NFL player with the Pittsburgh Steelers
• Dennis Sigalos, motorcycle speedway rider, winner of the 1982 Speedway World Pairs Championship
• Leo Sutherland, MLB player
• Ed Templeton, professional skateboarder and artist
• Alan Trammell, MLB shortstop and manager for the Detroit Tigers
• Matt Treanor, MLB catcher
• Randy Vataha, football player at Stanford, Jim Plunkett's favorite receiver

Politics

• Jim Silva, former California Assemblyman, former Member of the Orange County Board of Supervisors, former Mayor of Seal Beach
• Bill Thomas, retired U.S. Congressman and former Chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee (and alumnus of Garden Grove High School)
• Robert K. Dornan, former U.S. Congressman.^[33]
• Janet Nguyen, Orange County supervisor
• Curt Pringle, former State Assemblyman, Speaker of the California State Assembly and former mayor of Anaheim
• Paul Jeffrey Watford, Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, Assumed office May 22, 2012, born in Garden Grove August 25, 1967

Others

• Steve Fossett, aviator and adventurer
• Michael A. Monsoor, Navy SEAL, Medal of Honor recipient
• Tibor Rubin, Medal of Honor recipient
• Robert H. Schuller, television evangelist^[34]
• Nicole Brown Simpson, murder victim and former wife of O.J. Simpson