MAKING DO: Like South County’s makeshift city...

MAKING DO: Like South County’s makeshift city halls (B1), county government began in 1889 in rooms scattered over stores in Santa Ana. . . . Building owners bid for the county offices, which were sure to spur business, but they were outfoxed by C.L. Congdon, whose sealed bid offered a hall and 10 rooms for only 50 cents a year. Competitors countered with an offer of free rent, but it came too late. It was “the sharpest and shrewdest thing in a business point of view we have seen in Santa Ana,” said the Santa Ana Standard.