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Buena Park Historical Society 

About the Buena Park Historical Society

The Buena Park Historical Society is a non-profit organization of individuals and institutions who are concerned with and working for the preservation of their community’s heritage. Society believes that this legacy must not be lost and does in fact provide the basis and continuity for all aspects of community growth. 

Whitaker-Jaynes Estate

Andrew W. Whitaker built the Whitaker-Jaynes House when he moved to Buena Park to work with his brother, James A. Whitaker.  James founded Buena Park during a land boom caused by the construction of the first railroads in the region.  Decades later, Isaac DeLoit Jaynes bought the property.  The Whitaker Jaynes House is named for the only two families ever to live there.  The house featured living, dining, and kitchen downstairs and four bedrooms upstairs.  Now a home museum, the Whitaker-Jaynes House is decorated with Victorian furnishings reflecting a rural lifestyle.  Visitors will enjoy a square piano "shipped 'round the horn" and family heirlooms donated by Walter and Cordelia Knott, founders of Knott's Berry Farm.

Bacon House

The oldest surviving structure in Buena Park, the Bacon House is a rare example of single-wall construction with newspapers applied to the inside walls to seal out drafts.  The Bacon House was built by unknown settlers on Rancho Los Coyotes, and was created originally by a land grant from the King of Spain.  Today, as a home museum with period and original furnishings, the Bacon House reflects the hardships and blessings of pioneer life.  The house features a one-room living and cooking space, with a second story for adults, and a lean-to for children.  Visitors can enjoy the personal accounts of the last occupants of the house, the Bacon Family.