Lake Forest CA History & Facts

Lake Forest is a city in Orange County, California. The population was 77,264 at the 2010 census.

Lake Forest incorporated as a city on December 20, 1991. Prior to incorporation, the community had been known as El Toro. Following a vote in 2000, Lake Forest expanded its city limits to include the master-planned developments of Foothill Ranch and Portola Hills. This expansion brought new homes and commercial centers to the northeastern boundary of the city.

Lake Forest has two lakes from which the city gets its name. The lakes are man-made, and condominiums and custom homes ranging from large to small line their shores. Neighborhood associations manage the lakes (Lake 1, known as the Lake Forest Beach and Tennis Club, and Lake 2, the Sun and Sail Club.) Each facility features tennis courts, gyms, basketball courts, barbecue pits, volleyball courts, multiple swimming pools, saunas, hot tubs and club houses for social events.

The "forest" for which the city is also named lies in the area between Ridge Route, Jeronimo, Lake Forest and Serrano roads, and consists mostly of Eucalyptus trees. It is also man-made, and was created in the first decade of the 1900s when a local landowner, Dwight Whiting, planted 400 acres (1.6 km2) of Eucalyptus groves in the vicinity of Serrano Creek as part of a lumber operation intended to draw development to the area. In the late 1960s, the Occidental Petroleum company developed a residential community in and around the Eucalyptus groves, which had long since expanded and grown much more dense.

Famous Peoples From Lake Forest CA

Lindsay Rhodes

Lindsay Rhodes (born December 31, 1976), previously known as Lindsay Soto, is an American sportscaster, journalist, and television personality who was a host and reporter for the NFL Network.

Lindsay Overman-Soto graduated from El Toro High School in Lake Forest, California in 1994, where she was the sports editor for her high school yearbook. She graduated from the University of Southern California in 1998 and interned both at the USC Athletic Department and at Fox Sports Net while attending college majoring in broadcast journalism. Her first job was at an ABC affiliate in Yakima, Washington doing weekend sports and weekday news reporting. Soto later moved to KKFX, a Fox affiliate in Santa Barbara, California where she worked as a weekday sports anchor.

Lake Forest Points of Interest

Lake Forest Sports Park
Saddleback Church
Heritage Hill Historic Park
Serrano Creek Community Park
Arden Helena Modjeska Historic House and Gardens