Thornton Park

Thornton Park covers 252.9 acres and the county records 696 parcels and 684 site addresses inside the boundary, at a median distinct legal lot of 6,054 square feet. Twenty four named streets run 6.63 miles within it, among them Brewer Ave, Bear St, Chandler Ave, Flora St, Hall Ave, Hemlock Way, Joane Way and Linda Way. The zoning layer gives 99.8 acres to single family residence and 72.7 acres to open space land, with 13.9 acres of planned shopping center.

Carl Thornton Park sits inside the boundary at 32.7 acres, and the city records a lake, a trail, a stage amphitheater, wildlife viewing, a ball diamond, a basketball court, a fitness court, a concession stand, a shade shelter and a playground on it. It carries the only lake the city records inside any of its neighborhood boundaries. Two campuses sit inside the boundary, Jefferson Elementary and McFadden Institute of Technology, and Santa Ana Unified covers all of the ground.

By 1951 Santa Ana's population, 45,533 at the 1950 census, was about to triple within two decades, and the city needed someone to run the government day to day. On July 31, 1951 the city council appointed Carl J. Thornton as Santa Ana's first City Administrator, a position that later became the city manager's job.

Thornton held the job for 21 years, until 1972, running city hall through the years this neighborhood's streets were laid down. The typical house here dates to 1965, and 615 of the neighborhood's 674 homes went up in the 1960s, all of it under Thornton's watch. When he retired, the city set aside 32.7 acres at Segerstrom Avenue and dedicated Carl Thornton Park there to honor his service, and the neighborhood that grew up around it took the park's name.