On this date in 1857, the Los Angeles Vineyard Society was formed and held its first recorded meeting in San Francisco. The society was comprised of German immigrants from a variety of professions interested in establishing a grape-growing cooperative in Southern California to serve the lucrative and expanding market for California wines.
Seven months later the society purchased land twenty-seven miles southeast of Los Angeles and called their colony Anaheim. In October 1864, Anaheim set up its own part twelve miles away in Alamitos Bay and named it Anaheim Landing. The landing was moved to its present location in what is now known as Anaheim Bay after silt from a massive flood made the original location impractical.
Anaheim Landing was a successful port for years before the railroad provided faster and more efficient shipping. Before Anaheim Landing’s glory days as a busy port faded, thousands of local people had experienced the pleasures of its beachside location — especially as an alternative to spending hot summers inland. This lead to Anaheim Landing’s second life as a vacation spot, the establishment of Bay City in land adjacent to Anaheim Bay, and ultimately the entire area becoming Seal Beach.
- Marilyn Van Dyke and Michael Dobkins
