Garden Grove Historical Society

The Stanley Ranch Museum & Historical Village is an outdoor museum run by the Garden Grove Historical Society. The two acre campus is home to four original homes from around Garden Grove, a recreation of the original Garden Grove fire station, Robert Disney’s garage (his first office in North Hollywood when he moved to California), and ten other structures that were saved from demolition from around Garden Grove. The Ware-​Stanley House is the absolute highlight. Built in 1891, the house provides a window into the past… you can see how early Californians worked and made their living in the Valencia and Avocado groves that once dominated Orange County. I also loved the re-​creation of the firehouse and the original post office. The facility is run entirely by volunteers — the amazing members of the historical society open this living museum every 1^st and 3^rd Sunday at 1:30 PM for tours. Arrive promptly — small groups are arranged among those who arrive with the volunteers who have agreed to work that day. For the bargain price of $ 5 per person ($ 1 for students under 18), you will have a 60 – 90 minute guided tour of the various structures.

Walt Disney’s Original workshop****
When Walt moved here he stayed in his Uncle’s garage and paid him rent to live there. He used that garage as his original workshop. That workshop has been transported here and is on grounds. Yeah, its just a little shed full of stuff… but if you are one of the DIsney faithful, this is a def must see. The main house is super cool, I just love this place. WIsh had wrote a review sooner… just remembered it driving by the other day :)

An absolute delight for all ages! Go back in time… pretty hard to do considering this charming historical society is surrounded by modern America but it can be done.
Become a member on their FACEBOOK page to stay in touch with all their upcoming events. Just type in «Garden Grove Historical Society and Stanley-​Ware Ranch» and «like» it.
Tours are on the first and third Sundays of each month, from 1:30 — 3:00pm. They ask for a $ 5.00 donation from adults and $ 1.00 from children. Enjoy!

The Garden Grove Historical Society runs the Stanley Ranch Museum and Historical Village.
If you like old houses and history this is a good place to check out. It’s inexpensive for a museum, I want to say it’s $ 5 for a tour which includes several buildings.
We were given a tour of two homes one Victorian Eastlake or Stick Style (maybe a little bit Queen Anne.) an early 1900s Craftsman style (there is another Queene Anne Victorian home on the property which was not yet open for tours when I was there) the original Garden Grove Fire Station — including Fireman’s gear, a Fire Truck and hoses — the Garden Grove post office and, for you Disney buffs, the barn that Walt Disney used when he first arrived in the area and began to create animated shorts.
That’s a super concentration of history, isn’t it? Worth all $ 5, isn’t it? ;)
Our guide was not only knowledgeable, but had grown up in Garden Grove and offered a wealth of information — which included her own memories! It made the tour really personal and special.
My only gripe is that they are not open every weekend, but they are a non-​profit, so how mad can you be?
Every so often they will also have rummage sales and they are available to be rented for different types of events.