Mission Viejo

City History

The land upon which Mission Viejo is developed on was part of the 52,000-acre Rancho Mission Viejo. The title to the land dates back to July 27, 1769, when a Spaniard named Gaspar de Portola led an expeditionary force from Mexico across the southern border of the ranch and claimed the land for Spain.

Seven years later, the ranch witnessed the first attempt to found Mission San Juan Capistrano. The lack of water forced the friars and people to relocate, and even today the whereabouts of this old mission still remain a mystery. The name Mission Viejo bears testimony to this structure's sojourn in San Juan Canyon more than 200 years ago. The missions, which had been established to further the spread of the Christian faith, became secularized, and their vast landholdings were granted as ranches to prominent citizens.

One man who happened to be standing in the right place at the right time was an English trader named John Forster. John or Juan, as the name reads on the old land grant married the Mexican governor's daughter and acquired the three ranches historically known as El Trabuco, Mission Viejo, and Los Potreros. But fate frowned on Don Juan Forster. Fencing 205,000 acres drained his capital, droughts destroyed his cattle, and futile efforts to attract settlers dried up his last remaining credit.

In 1907, an Irish cattleman named Richard O'Neill acquired an exclusive interest in Rancho El Trabuco and Rancho Mission Viejo. When a 1963 study indicated that urbanization was moving south from the Los Angeles area, his grandchildren, Richard O'Neill and Alice O'Neill Avery, decided to sell 10,000 acres. Donald Bren, Philip J. Reilly, and James Toepfer bought the property and organized the Mission Viejo Company. In 1965, a master plan for Mission Viejo was approved by the Orange County Board of Supervisors.

Please follow this link to the City of Mission Viejo for more information.