Jewish Life
Orange County’s Jewish History: Mendelson’s Saloon
As readers of this column know, most of the early Jewish pioneers of Orange County lived in Anaheim and Santa Ana. The Mendelsons were one of the few exceptions: they lived farther south in San Juan Capistrano and were the only Jewish family for miles around. Polish immigrants Max and his wife Clara settled in the tiny mission town in 1874 with their growing family; four of their seven children had been born in Mississippi and Missouri and the remaining three would be born in Capistrano. A year ...
