A new complete history of Garden Grove.

UPDATE: At present, on Amazon.com, the book is only available as an e-book. We’ll let you know about paper versions and their availability as soon as possiible.

The first modern one-volume history of Garden Grove is making its debut. The 128-page book, written by long-time area journalist Jim Tortolano, is now available in area stores, through Amazon.com and as an e-book. It is published by The History Press, headquartered in South Carolina.

Author Jim Tortolano

Entitled “Garden Grove: A History of the Big Strawberry,” it traces the birth and development of Orange County’s fifth-largest city from its early days as a crossroads village to today’s “big” city of 175, 000 people. Peter Larsen, writing for The Orange County Register/Garden Grove Journal, called it “a lovingly-told history of a place that’s filled with facts and anecdotes that held us understand how this portion of western Orange County developed.”

In addition to its exclusive historical content, the book has more than 60 photographs, a timeline, brief bios of celebrated locals, and more. It helps answer a lot of questions, such as:

• How did Garden Grove get its name?
• What was “The Battle of Garden Grove”?
• How did Mother Nature change and shape the community?
• Could Disneyland have located in “The Big Strawberry?”
• Who were the Chili Peppers?
• What’s the connection between Playgirl magazine and Garden Grove?
• Who was the first Garden Grover in outer space?

Area residents and history buffs who would like to purchase an autographed copy can meet the author for a book-signing on Saturday, April 4 from 1-3 p.m. at the Costco store at Garden Grove Boulevard and Main Street.

Tortolano, proprietor of this website, has lived in Garden Grove since 1960 and has written for newspapers such as the Long Beach Press-Telegram, Los Angeles Times and Orange County Evening News. In 1983 he and a partner founded the Garden Grove Journal newspaper, which was purchased by The Register in 2013. He is also a professor of journalism and mass communications at Golden West College in Huntington Beach.