Colonia Independencia (Anaheim, California)

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Established in 1914 as a citrus camp for Hispanic workers La Colonia Independencia ranks with El Modena as one of the oldest surviving barrios in Orange County.

Misión del Sagrado Corazón, La Colonia's Catholic church, was built in 1926; Magnolia School No. 2 was established shortly thereafter on Garza Street, and was attended exclusively by Mexican students. In spite of the 1946 decision in Mendez v. Westminster outlawing racial and language-based segregation in California schools, and in spite of then-Governor Earl Warren's subsequent repeal of provisions of the California Education Code that allowed segregation in the state's public schools, Magnolia School No. 2 continued to operate until 1954, when community activist Gloria Lopez challenged the district to transfer white children into the barrio school rather than build a new one. In the face of protests from white parents, Magnolia School No. 2 was closed and replaced with a school bus warehouse. As late as the 1970s, the community had no paved streets, sidewalks or sewers.