Pioneer House of the Mother Colony

Two bronzes at this house disagree about the man who built it. The state's 1950 plaque names him George Hanson, founder of the Mother Colony; the Daughters of the American Revolution, beside the door, spell him Hansen and call him its promoter, which is nearer the record. Hansen was a Los Angeles surveyor hired as superintendent by the Los Angeles Vineyard Society, fifty German colonists who founded Anaheim in 1857; this was his home and office. The chapter moved it here from Los Angeles Street in 1928 and opened it in 1929 as Orange County's first historical museum.

What the plaque says

Mother Colony House First house built in Anaheim, 1857, by George Hanson, founder "The Mother Colony", group selecting name given settlement. This German group left San Francisco to form grape growing colony Southern California. Vineyards became largest in California until destroyed, 1885, by grape disease. Colony started producing Valencia oranges. Here once resided Madame Helena Modjeska, and Henryk Sienkiewicz, author of "Quo Vadis". Marker placed by California Centennials Commission in cooperation with Grace Parlor No. 242, N. D. G. W. Mother Colony Parlor No. 281, N. S. G. W. Dedicated July 16, 1950 This house was built in 1857 by Mr, Geo. Hansen the promoter of that little colony of Germans who founded what is now the City of Anaheim, and originally stood on N. Los Angeles St. between Chartres & Cypress Sts. The building was a gift from Mr. E. E. Beazley and the lot on which it now stands was donated by Marie Horstmann Dwyer in memory of her parents who were pioneers and purchased the land October 1st, 1860 That the pioneers of Anaheim and what they did for us shall not be forgotten this house is preserved by the Mother Colony Chapter Daughters of the American Revolution

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Puvungna — 12 mi
  The Acjachemen and Tongva place of creation: twenty-two acres of open ground on a university campus, still not in the hands of its people.
• Domínguez Rancho Adobe — 17 mi
  The first Spanish land grant in California contained the whole harbor, and in 1846 fifty Californio lancers turned back three hundred Marines on it.
• The Banning Museum — 19 mi
  The man who made a harbor out of an open bay: freight, dredging, the first railroad in Southern California, and a cupola for watching ships.
• Drum Barracks — 19 mi
  The Union Army built its Southern California headquarters in a county that had voted against Lincoln two to one, and stabled the Army camels here.

More markers nearby

• North Gate of City of Anaheim — 0.8 mi
• Old Maizeland School (Rivera School) — 4.2 mi
• Old Santa Ana — 4.7 mi
• Orange County's Original Courthouse — 6.8 mi