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Where Did the Name Orange
Come From?
 The
name Orange was first applied in Orange County, California, to
the Town of Orange, founded in 1872. The town was originally named
Richland, but when time came to establish a post office, it was
discovered that the name had already been adopted by a town in
Sacramento County. Richland was dropped by the town and the
name Orange adopted when the Orange Post Office opened in 1873.
It was possible that the name Orange came from the newly
sprouting orange groves in the area. Promoters saw opportunity in
highlighting the “exotic” and tasty fruit as a product of an “exotic”
land. Another common explanation, however, was that Andrew Glassell,
one of the town’s founders, came from Virginia where a county was
named Orange in honor of the son-in-law of King George II of
England.
The county itself,
however, was certainly named for its flourishing orange industry, when it broke
off from the County of Los Angeles in 1889 to form the new County of Orange.
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