Dana Rohrabacher: “when California was admitted as a state 150 years ago, Southern California paled in comparison to the northern part of…”

“when California was admitted as a state 150 years ago, Southern California paled in comparison to the northern part of the state, which was famous for the gold rush and the new City of San Francisco. The 45th Congressional District and surrounding areas hardly qualified even as a rural backwater, being made up primarily of swamps and cattle ranches. In the late 1800's farming gradually replaced ranching and spurred the conversion of coastal swamps and river flood plains into habitable land. Huntington Beach, which is today a booming city of over 200,000 people that forms the core of the 45th District, didn't even get its start until 1902, when a group of farmers and other investors decided to found ``Pacific City'' in an attempt to emulate the success of Atlantic City on the East Coast. This venture then got bought out by a group of Los Angeles businessmen headed by Henry Huntington, in whose honor the town was renamed when he brought his Pacific Electric Railway into town. The area that became the 45th District gained in population as tourism, the oil industry, and world war each took their turn as a spur to local growth. Our area played a major role in winning World War II, serving as the site for both the Seal Beach Naval Weapons Station, which even today supplies a major portion of the Navy's firepower and the Santa Ana Army Airfield.”