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Following is a synopsis of significant events in the history of the Mission Viejo community.
Originally published in
the Saddleback Valley News in 1986.
1963
 Mission Viejo Co. was formed as a land development and home building firm, comprising three executives, one bookkeeper and one secretary, who began the planning of the community of Mission Viejo.
1965
Mission Viejo Co.’s general plan of development, comprising 10,000 acres, was adopted by Orange County.
The first homes in Mission Viejo were offered for sale.
1966
The first families moved into Mission Viejo.
Groundbreaking ceremonies were held for both the five-acre La Paz Shopping Center and the Mission Viejo Post Office.
The first high school football game pitted Mission Viejo High school Diablos against the El
Modena Vanguards.
Dedication ceremonies were conducted for the Marguerite O’Neill Park and the community’s first church, Mount of Olives Lutheran.
1967
”Mission Impossible,” Mission Viejo Country Club’s golf course, welcomed its first foursome to its 18-hole championship greens.
The first elementary school, Marguerite O’Neill, opened in Mission Viejo.
La Paz Shopping Center opened for business with a daylong celebration.
The first residents moved into the community’s newest neighborhood of El Dorado and another new homes series, Monterey, began sales.
The year ended with the first annual Mission Viejo Christmas program.
1968
Groundbreaking ceremonies were held for the Montanoso Recreation Center
O’Neill Elementary School was dedicated.
Mission Viejo High School graduated its first senior class.
Gov. Ronald Reagan dedicated Saddleback Community College on the first day of classes for 1,300 students.
The month of May was highlighted by the first Cinco de Mayo celebration.
1969
Construction began on the 126-bed Mission Community Hospital and La Paz Medical Dental Center.
Burroughs Corp. began construction in a newly created Mission Viejo Industrial Park.
The community’s population surpassed 10,000.
1970
Construction began on Viejo Elementary School, the 28-acre Village Shopping Center and the first permanent fire station.
New parks adjacent to the El Dorado and Granada neighborhoods were completed on three-acre sites.
Two major community events were launched—the first St. Patrick’s Day Parade and the 4th of July picnic.
Sierra Recreation Center, a 25-acre outdoor facility, was completed for use by Mission Viejo residents.
1971
Mission Viejo Co. opened the Madrid and Aliso Villa neighborhoods and completed construction on the Marguerite Recreation Center.
1972
The first residents moved into the new Barcelona neighborhood.
Marguerite Recreation Center was expanded to include an additional seven tennis courts, two sand volleyball courts, a 5,000-square-foot youth pool.
1973
Mission Viejo hosted the 15th annual Los Angeles Invitational swim Meet.
Four members of the Nadadores swim team qualified for the AAU National Championship.
The Miller High Life Bicycle Tournament was held on Mission Viejo’s 1.8-mile course.
1974
Professional women’s tennis was showcased during the community-hosted Virginia Slims Tournament.
In July, Mission Viejo again hosted the Los Angeles Invitational Swim Meet.
The community was designated as an Olympic Development Site by the U.S. Olympic Committee.
Construction was started on the $11 million Lake Mission Viejo.
A second golf course, Casta del Sol, was opened to the public.
Mission Viejo formed the first Municipal Advisory Council in Orange County.
1975
The community played host to a celebrity-studded national television audience for “Challenge of the Sexes”.
A Virginia Slims “mini-tournament” was held in February.
Mission Viejo’s Nadadores captured the women’s and overall titles at the National AAU Long Course Competition.
Plans for Mission Viejo Mall were announced.
Renovation of the Mission Viejo Country Club was completed.
The Cordova neighborhood met with sales success.
1976
President Gerald R. Ford helped celebrate Mission Viejo’s 10th anniversary by dedicating the community flag at Mission Viejo High School.
Former
Nadadores-turned Olympians Shirley Babashoff and Brian Goodell cumulatively won three gold and four silver medals at the 1976 Summer Olympic games in Montreal.
1977
The second “Celebrity Challenge of the Sexes” led by such stars as Bill Cosby, Bruce Jenner and Farrah Fawcett-Majors, attracted a live audience of more than 5,000 spectators.
The Mission Viejo Nadadores completed a successful tour of the Soviet Union with seven of 10 first-place finishes.
1978
Lake Mission Viejo officially opened to Lake Association members on June 3, 1978.
Mission Viejo’s Rose Parade entry was awarded the prestigious Sweepstakes Award, the first of four Sweepstakes Awards the community was to win for its floats.
The ninth annual St. Patrick’s Parade lured more than 7,000 spectators for the all-day festivities.
1979
Mission Viejo Mall, anchored by Bullock’s, Robinson’s, Montgomery Ward and May Company department stores, opened to thousands of shoppers.
Marguerite Recreation Center played host to the AAU Master’s National Swimming Championships with 900 spectators.
1980
Nadadores diving coach Dr. Ron O’Brien was named head coach of the U.S. Olympic Diving Team.
World-class cyclists from Poland, Austria, Switzerland and the United States competed in the 48-mile Lowenbrau Series Cycling Championships.
1981
Mission Viejo was represented at the 1981 World Student Games in Bucharest, Romania by Nadadores divers Meg Neyer and Lenny
Layland.
Mission Viejo International Sports Complex was site of the summer’s U.S. Outdoor National Diving Championships.
Mission Viejo residents raised over $3,000 at the sixth annual Muscular Dystrophy skate-a-thon.
1982
Three Nadadores swimmers traveled “down under” and won five medals at the Australian National Swimming Championships.
The fourth renewal of the Mission Viejo-7UP 5K and 10K Fun Run was held in November.
More than 1,500 spectators witnessed the traditional Lake Mission Parade of Lights during the “Five Nights of Christmas” celebration.
1983
The Junior Wheelchair Sports Camp was held at Saddleback College for the third time.
In July, the $12, million Market on the Lake Shopping Center opened with 35 shops and restaurants.
Nine world-record holders competed at the Seventeen Magazine Swim Meet of Champions, previewing the forthcoming Summer Olympic Games.
1984
Mission Viejo’s Rose Parade float, “Springtime Magic,” captured the Governor’s Award as most outstanding city entry, marking the fifth time in eight years the community’s float was honored.
The Summer Games of the 23rd Olympiad showcased the world-class cyclists at Mission Viejo in the Olympic Long Distance Cycling Road Races.
Nadadores swimmers and divers earned 13 medals, 10 of which were gold, in Olympic swimming and diving events.
1985
Twenty-seven Olympians from the 1984 Olympics competed in the Speedo/Antron-Lycra Swim Meet of Champions at the Mission Viejo International Sports Complex.
In August the Nadadores won their 44th national team title at the Phillips 66-U.S. Swimming Long Course National Championships in Mission Viejo, surpassing the Santa Clara Swim Club to become the “winningest team in the history of swimming.”
Longtime Nadadore coach Mark Schubert left to coach a swim team in Florida.
Mission Viejo voted to form a Community Services District, often called a “junior” city.
1986
Mission Viejo celebrates its 20th anniversary with a yearlong schedule of activities and special events throughout the community.
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