Garden Grove, city in Orange County, southwestern California. The city is located near the Santa Ana River, in the vast Los Angeles-Riverside-Orange County metropolitan area. Although chiefly residential, it has some light industry, including plastics manufacturing. Of general interest are the Crystal Cathedral, a towering church made primarily of glass and designed by renowned architect Philip Johnson, and the Stanley Ranch Museum, on whose grounds several of the city's oldest homes and business buildings are located. Situated in a former fruit- and vegetable-growing area, the city still hosts an annual strawberry festival. The popular Disneyland theme park is in adjacent Anaheim.
The name Garden Grove, suggested by an early resident, was first given in 1874 when a school district was formed here. The population of this farming community increased after the Pacific Electric Railroad passed through in 1905, and the population expanded again in the 1940s. The city incorporated in 1956.
