The city of Los Alamitos, the “City of Little Cottwoods” was described as a “Jewel of a City” and was incorporated on March 26, 1960. Los Alamitos combines a small town ambience with excellent schools, a stellar police department, and a high quality of life to ensure that the community is a nice place to live, visit and conduct business.
Los Alamitos is situated between Rossmoor and Seal Beach and although Rossmoor is not part of Los Alamitos, it is speculated that it may be annexed to the city, or Rossmoor, Seal Beach and Los Alamitios will combine to form one city. Rossmoor, still the larged single development in Orange County, was the first walled community in the United States and quickly became home to over 10,000 upper middle class professionals. These ranch style homes dominated the suburban explosion of the 1950s. Rossmoor is still an unincorporated part of Orange County, and doesn’t pay taxes to Los Alamitos, but the city virtually treats Rossmoor residents as if they were residents.
Newer communities in Los Alamitos include:
Just prior to and during early World War II, the area around Los Alamitos became a major center for the aircraft industry. Donald Douglas built a major plant adjacent to the airport in Lakewood and Long Beach and the Navy decided it wanted the level ground just south of Los Alamitos for its training field, which was moved from Terminal Island. The new based spurred modest growth and provided many jobs. Today, it is a reserve support center for units of the Army, Navy, National Guard and Marines.
