Costa Mesa, city, Orange County, southwestern California, near the Pacific Ocean, at the mouth of the Santa Ana River; incorporated as a city 1953. It is a cultural and commercial center for the surrounding area. Major manufactures in the city include pharmaceuticals, boatbuilding, printed materials, and electronics. Costa Mesa is the site of Southern California College and a junior college. The Orange County Fairgrounds and the Estancia, a restored station of the Mission of San Juan Capistrano built in 1818, are also located here, as is South Coast Plaza, one of the largest shopping centers in the United States. Settled about 1900 and later laid out as the town of Harper, the community was renamed Costa Mesa (Spanish “coastal tableland”) in the early 1920s. Population 82,291 (1980); 96,357 (1990); 102,348 (1998 estimate).
