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Search 1,000s of photos, newspaper articles, books, and other historical resources in the Costa Mesa Historical Society collections for your next research project.

More Than 27,000 Photographs of Costa Mesa people and places

  • Schools, Government, Commerce, Agriculture, Residential
  • Santa Ana Army Air Base (SAAAB)

1,000+ Library Books on Costa Mesa and surrounding areas

  • Most books are out of print

Local Periodicals and Newspapers

Costa Mesa Herald 1924-1936
Costa Mesa Globe 1935-1936
Costa Mesa Globe-Herald 1936-1961
Daily Pilot 1985, 1988, 1993-2002, 2011- present
Costa Mesa News 1978-1987
Costa Mesa Independent 1987-1995
Balboa Beacon 2011-2013
Anaheim Gazette 1885-1890
Fairview Register 1889
Newport Ensign 1970-1988
Newport Balboa Press 1940-1945
Costa Mesa sections of OC Register 1983-1990
The Current 2012-present

Articles by Subjects and Directories

  • Phone Books, City Directories, Journals and Magazines
  • Subject News Clipping Files

Hundreds of Maps

  • Costa Mesa – Newport area, Orange County and Southern California
  • 1900 to Present

Audio & Video Recordings and Movies Films

  • Oral Histories
  • Local and Regional History
  • World War II

Major Collections

  • Early Costa Mesa Collection – Rural/Agricultural Period, 1900-1950
  • Nell Murbarger Collection – Personal and travel writings; research notes for Ghost Towns of the Southwest, local memorabilia
  • Mildred Fisher Collection – Costa Mesa Schools 1928-1965
  • SAAAB Collection – Training Base 1942-1946
  • Dodge Family Collection – Early Costa Mesa
  • Ed Miller Collection – Research notes for “A Slice of Orange”, “Hayburners of Orange County”, and “SAAAB Story”
  • Lions Club Collection – Papers and memorabilia, 1928-present

Diego Sepulveda Adobe Historical Site

  • Mission/Rancho/Farming Period, 1820-1920
  • Native American & Archaeological Artifacts
  • Period Furnishings and Personal Effects