The land that Laguna Woods Village sits on has been home to Native Americans, Spanish settlers, Mexican land grant owners and California pioneers in its long history.
Its origin story is told in the Laguna Woods History Center, which is celebrating the Village’s 60th anniversary. A recent open house showcased the first of three exhibits on the Village’s backstory.
The first exhibit of the yearlong commemoration, unveiled at the celebration, focuses on the Moulton Ranch land that eventually became the Village.
Guest speaker at the event was Jared Mathis, great-grandson of Nellie Gail and Lewis Moulton, who talked about the family and its pivotal role in the history of the land the Village is built on.
“The idea is to show what we started with, the raw land that was really raw,” said History Center CEO Dean Dixon.
Artifacts displayed in the front cabinets of the center, which is next to the Village Library near Clubhouse 1, are drawn from the nearby Moulton Museum.
“They have never been displayed at the museum but have resided in their archives,” Dixon said.
These are Moulton family photos and keepsakes from the family of Orange County pioneers who homesteaded a sprawling 21,723 acres along the two-lane road that became the Interstate 5 Freeway in the 1950s.
The exhibit runs through April, to be followed by a three-month display on the construction of the Village and a final exhibit starting in September celebrating its 60 years of existence.
Nellie Gail Moulton was a teacher, artist, wife, mother and rancher who ran the Moulton Ranch from 1938 to 1950 and sold a parcel of land to Ross Cortese, who developed Leisure World (later renamed Laguna Woods Village). The “Nellie’s Gallery” cabinet in the exhibit displays some of Moulton’s paintings, memorabilia from her travels and household items.
One panel reproduces a quote from her 1966 journal: “And what more amazing, to look out of my Laguna Hills apartment bedroom window, as I’ve…
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