Hours

Monday thru Friday
9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Also certain evenings and weekends

Old Orange County Courthouse
211 W. Santa Ana Blvd.
Santa Ana, CA 92701

(714) 973-6605 or (714) 973-6607

The Old Orange County Courthouse [view map] is located on the eastern edge of the Santa Ana Civic Center, one mile west of the Santa Ana Freeway on Santa Ana Blvd. The temporary exhibitions gallery is located on the third floor of the building.

Admission to the Old Courthouse Museum is free.

Metered parking is available in the lot on the north side of the Old Courthouse.

About the Old Courthouse Museum

The Old Courthouse Museum is located in the Old Orange County Courthouse in downtown Santa Ana. This majestic, granite and sandstone building—the oldest court building in Southern California—is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and has been designated a State of California Historic Landmark. The building has housed county government offices since its dedication in 1901. Today, the restored 30,000-square-foot building continues to house government offices and also provides vital space for the Orange County History Center (which includes the Old Courthouse Museum, the Orange County Archives, and the library of the Pacific Coast Archaeological Society).

The Old Courthouse Museum explores local and regional history through temporary exhibitions and public programming. For nearly a quarter century the museum has presented temporary exhibitions and public programs on topics as diverse as the photography of Ansel Adams to paleontology of the Santa Ana Mountains. This exhibit and its related programming fit neatly in an institutional history of bringing compelling subject matter to the public.

Although the actual trials associated with Mendez et al. v. Westminster et al. took place in federal court buildings located in Los Angeles and San Francisco, the county courthouse building served as the setting for one of attorney David Marcus’s earlier legal battles against residential segregation in Orange County. Moreover, Santa Ana itself led the drive to create segregated “Mexican schools” in the 1910s, served as one of the defendants during the trial, and continues to confront the legacies of segregation and social inequality today.

While the Mendez trial was heard in federal courts in Los Angeles and San Francisco, the Old Orange County Courthouse was the venue of significant and far-reaching cases. People v. Gollum and Overell (1947) led to a reassessment of the role of the media in the courtroom. People v. Chimel (1965) established new rules related to searches incident to a lawful arrest. The Old Orange County Courthouse was also an initial venue for one of attorney David Marcus’s early legal battles against residential segregation in Orange County.