Payment Toward City History Book Approved

The first phase of a $20,000 project to record the city’s history in book form won City Council approval this week.

Council members authorized a $5,760 advance for the first draft, which will come back to the city for approval.

Author Doris Walker will write the city’s history. Her past works have included “Orange County: A Centennial Celebration” and “Home Port for Romance,” a history of Dana Point.

The project is the brainchild of the city Historical Heritage Committee, which has gathered background on Mission Viejo for more than three years.

“The idea of recording the city’s history is a good one,” Mayor Sherri M. Butterfield said at Monday’s council meeting. “Because the city is only 8 years old and the planned community only 30 years old, a lot of people think the area has no history before then.”

Those people would be missing out on the exploits of Gaspar de Portola, the 18th-century Spanish explorer who blazed a trail through South County and later became the state’s first governor.

The book will bridge the gap between the area’s early history and the sale of 10,000 acres to what would eventually become the Mission Viejo Co., which developed the community that now has 92,000 residents.

The city hopes to have the first edition of the book printed before the planned community’s 30th anniversary in May.