The history of the ranch began with James Irvine. He joined two others owning the property before becoming the sole owner of it in 1878. After his death in 1886, his son James Irvine II (J.I.) became the successor of his father’s ranch. The ranch grew significantly and transformed into...

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The County of Orange Paleontology and Archaeology (COPA) collection contains more than six million artifacts and fossils collected since the 1970s from within the County and throughout our parks. As stewards of the collection, OC Parks is dedicated to preserving these artifacts and fossils in perpetuity for the benefit of...

Paleontology The paleontology collection includes local Orange County fossils dating as far back as the Jurassic period 180 million years ago, including notable type specimens. Orange County has particularly excellent records of Eocene terrestrial mammals, late Oligocene-early Miocene terrestrial mammals, and Miocene-Pliocene marine mammals. The collection contains ancient mammals including...

The first recorded archaeological excavation in Orange County was conducted by the American Museum of Natural History in 1912 around Newport Bay. After a hiatus because of World War II, efforts picked up in 1961 when local citizens formed an advocacy group, the Pacific Coast Archaeological Society, with the goal...

OC Parks offers a variety of Short Term Volunteer opportunities that the public can participate in. These activities include single day special events as well as short-term project based work (i.e., trail restoration, facility maintenance, park clean-ups, etc.). Short Term Volunteer opportunities do not require specialized training. For individuals or...

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