Fullerton

Understand

Fullerton has undergone several transformations from its 1887 founding as a rural stop on the Santa Fe Railroad. A longtime agricultural powerhouse in fruit and nut trees and ranching, Fullerton's economy exploded in the early 1900s with the development of the petroleum industry, with many fine homes and civic buildings constructed with oil money into the 1920s. After World War II, manufacturing displaced oil drilling, dominated by companies like Hughes Aircraft and Val-Vita Foods (later Hunt-Wesson, of Hunt's Ketchup and Wesson Oil). By the 1960s, Fullerton was also a bedroom community for booming Los Angeles.

In the 21st century, Fullerton's economy has shifted again, this time to education (driven by California State University, Fullerton and Fullerton College) and healthcare (driven by St. Jude's Medical Center). Its historic downtown has been revitalized into a regional shopping and entertainment district. Fullerton has a thriving arts culture, home to several theatre companies as well as a vibrant music scene that has its roots with famous guitarmaker Leo Fender. Fender was the first company to mass-produce solid-body electric guitars in 1950 (nowadays that model is known as the Fender Telecaster), hence Fullerton has been considered the birthplace of the electric guitar.

Fullerton has a large ethnic Korean community, drawn to its excellent schools. Unlike Westminster's Little Saigon or Garden Grove's Little Seoul, however, is no single Koreatown. Instead, you will find Korean restaurants, bakeries, churches, and shops scattered in pockets throughout the city.

Get in

By car

The usual way to get into and around Fullerton is by car. The city is close to Interstate 5, connecting it to Los Angeles and Santa Ana, and State Highways 91 and 57 run along its southern and eastern borders. Downtown Fullerton is a 15-minute drive north of Disneyland straight up Harbor Boulevard.

By plane

The closest commercial airports are John Wayne Airport (SNA) to the south and Long Beach Airport (LGB) to the west. The principal international airport serving the region is Los Angeles International Airport (LAX). If you happen to have a pilot's license, you could fly right in to Fullerton Municipal Airport, Orange County's last strictly general aviation field, boasting a 3,121-foot (951 m) runway.

By train

Amtrak has a station at the Fullerton Transportation Center at 120 E. Santa Fe Avenue. It is served by the frequent Pacific Surfliner train between San Diego and Los Angeles and the daily long-distance Southwest Chief which runs between Los Angeles and Chicago through the Southwest. The regional Metrolink commuter rail service also serves the station with two different lines: the Orange County Line between Union Station in Downtown L.A. and Oceanside in San Diego County, and the 91 Line which runs between L.A. Union Station and Riverside.

By bus

The nearest intercity bus/coach service are Greyhound, Megabus and Tres Estrellas de Oro in the nearby Anaheim.

Get around

Fullerton, like most of Southern California, is overall a very car-centric city, but there are respites. The city's street address grid is centered at the intersection of Harbor Boulevard and Commonwealth Avenue, in Fullerton's walkable downtown. Just down the street is the Fullerton Transportation Center, a major transfer point for OCTA buses.

Beyond downtown, Fullerton is criss-crossed with about 28 miles of public recreational trails for mountain bike, equestrian, or hiking use. It is possible to walk all the way across the city from Ralph B. Clark Regional Park in the west to Craig Regional Park in the east on these trails.

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