YORBA LINDA! The town with the beautiful name. The town with a personality of such high caliber that the Coronet Magazine of February, 1948, included a story by Keith Monroe entitled "Strange Case of the Happy Town."

In this story the writer says, "No one has satisfactorily explained the town of Yorba Linda, California . . . not even lifelong residents. For how can anyone explain a community where a church owns a liquor license, where there is no jail or policeman, where even children attend the Chamber of Commerce meetings?"

Further in the article Mr. Monroe says that at Los Angeles headquarters of Bank of America, Yorba Linda has been discussed in the same manner parents discuss their favorite child and that Brad Lane, comptroller, beams as he says, "If ever I saw a town haul itself up by its bootstraps, Yorba Linda is it. Somehow, that little bunch of farmers, by main strength and earnestness, manage to ram through civic projects that would be too big for towns ten times the size."

Twenty years have passed since that article appeared and many changes have come to the "little town". There are few farmers left, and instead are many streets of beautiful homes, splendid [ix]golf courses, spacious club houses, supermarkets, beautiful churches and all the conveniences that typify a sophisticated community.

And yet .. there is still that certain something, that indefinable quality that makes people say "I never lived in a place where there was such friendliness and so little snobbery. After the first week I knew this was where I wanted to stay."

In the spring of 1968 I spoke to a group of about sixty sixth graders on the history of Yorba Linda. At the close I answered questions. Someone asked what title the book would have and I replied that it hadn't yet been chosen. Afterward a lad by the name of Larry Ritchie came timidly and asked if he might suggest a name. His choice — "The Town We Love." Yes, even the youngsters feel that "something".

In the pages that follow we will try to probe into the secret of Yorba Linda, to learn what her founders were like, what her civic philosophy has been and still is. Friends, we give you Yorba Linda! [x]