There's a Valencia Drive in the city of Orange. Valencia is the variety of fruit that made Orange County famous. Oranges weren't the first crop grown in Orange County. Grapes, wheat, walnuts, and apricots came first. Phil Brigandi, who wrote "Orange County Place Names A-Z," says when farmers switched to oranges, they tried a lot of different varieties.

"Some of them we know, like the navels that were so popular out in Riverside. But there's other varieties that– who knows what a Mediterranean Sweet is anymore, or a St. Michael's. But the varieties that worked well here, grew well in this climate, became the big ones. And the major one in Orange County was the Valencia."

The Valencia was named for a city in Spain. It was developed by a Santa Ana agronomist named William Wolfskill. The Valencia is a summer fruit used primarily for orange juice. By the 1930s, one in six oranges worldwide was grown in Orange County.

(Airdate: 8/10/2008)