Garage Door Company in Lake Forest, CA

From 1863, the community had been known as El Toro. In 1874 José Serrano and his family occupied eleven thousand acres of ranch that had been granted to them by the Government of Mexico, and that eventually reached the hands of Dwight Whiting. Whiting was instrumental in bringing the Santa Fe rail line through the region. The Rancho Niguel was granted to Juan B. Alvarado, Juan Avila and his sister Conception, the widow of one Pedro Sánchez. From them it passed to other owners and was divided into plots, including Yorba. In 1874, most of it was owned by Cyrus B. Rawson. Jonathan E. Bacon also owned 1600 acres. In addition to the Serranos, established in Aliso Canyon, there was a group of pioneers who lived in the foothills and several miles above El Toro, many of whom were among the first settlers of this neighborhood.

El Toro Road at the I-5 Freeway was the epicenter of the Saddleback Valley from the late 19th century to the end of the 2nd millennium. However, the area gradually deteriorated, and most of the shops closed or moved to other cities. After years of planning, the city has worked with the property owners of some aging strip malls and developed the “Arbor at Lake Forest” commercial district. The new center now competes with large shopping centers in cities that surround Lake Forest.

In 1991, residents chose to incorporate, and chose the name “Lake Forest” in a referendum. Controversy ensued for months, as residents of the newer subdivisions arguing that “Lake Forest” sounded better than “El Toro”, while long-time residents complained that the name change aimed to erase the town’s history in favor of an artificial name that referred to man-made lakes. El Toro High School kept its name and continues to do so to this day. In subsequent years as the city came to be referred to as Lake Forest, mentions of “El Toro” in the press usually referred to the Marine Corps Air Station El Toro, decommissioned in 1999 and later repurposed.