Santa Ana, O.C. Fair, H.B., and Garden Grove

Today's photo shows the Santa Ana train station - probably around the turn of the century. (Can one of you rail fans out there help pin down the year for us?) Note the Southern Pacific boxcars on the left and the Ringling Bros. Circus car on the right.
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O.C. Fair/SAAAB Update: One of my readers wrote to the Fair people complaining about the demolition of the Fair's Administration Building, which was once part of the Santa Ana Army Air Base. He're part of the reply he received: "While none of the buildings on the facility have been deemed 'historically significant' through the Master Plan study conducted in 2003, it does not mean that the buildings have not served a role at the property or that there is not sentimental value to them. The certified Environmental Impact Report (EIR) determined that the buildings on the property do not meet the legal definition for historical significance, but we still look for ways to celebrate and preserve the significant history of the grounds that house the OC Fair & Event Center. Look for an all-new exhibit celebrating this rich history at the 2009 OC Super Fair called "Airbase to Fairspace."
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Nice. They celebrate their history by destroying it. (BTW, if you hire the right people, EIRs can be made to "determine" all kinds of crazy things.)
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Another anonymous reader wrote to me on a different topic,... "What a remarkably lousy article on the Encyclopedia Lots in this morning's Register ...They [got] the date, and the publisher of the encyclopedias wrong... but I love that they also have the city of Huntington Beach as the one giving away the lots."
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At least they were consistant.
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Reader Mike sent in the photos of Garden Grove posted below and wrote, "This is old 1960s Harbor Blvd. between Trask & Garden Grove Blvd. On the west side of Harbor was a small shopping center called World's Fair Center. My folks used to drive past this center all the time on our way to and from Leonards Dept. Store. ...The two main stores in this little shopping center were World's Fair Imports & Gifts, and Sav-On Electronics."

Sav-On Electronics was indeed a great place to rummage for interesting equipment and parts. As recently as a few years ago they still had 8-inch floppy drives. How cool is that?! The shopping center was still there the last time I looked, but most (if not all) of the businesses have changed.