Google now hosts millions of images from the archive of LIFE magazine, including many images of Orange County. The first example above (top) shows John Glenn at MCAS El Toro in Nov. 1964. Glenn had retired from NASA earlier that year, and would retire from the Marine Corps just a month later. .
The second image shows a 1950s National Hot Rod Association drag race at the Santa Ana Drag Strip, next to the Orange County Airport. It is often credited as the world's first commercial drag strip
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The public is invited to attend a Holiday Open House on the third floor of the Old Courthouse Museum on Dec. 9, 11:30am-1:30pm. There will be refreshments, crafts and music inspired by the exhibit "All the World's a Stage: Modjeska's Arden." The event is hosted by OC Parks, OC Community Resources and the Orange County Historical Commission. The Old Courthouse is at 211 W. Santa Ana Blvd. in Santa Ana. (If you attend, stop past the Orange County Archives downstairs and say hello to me.)
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Mariners Medical Arts Building Update: A large section of original aluminum louvers were recently stolen off the (already endangered) Mariners Medical Arts Building (1963, Richard Neutra) in Newport Beach. Like the brass plaques that have disappeared from other sites lately, the louvers disappeared in the middle of the night.
