If you have visited the Great Park recently, you may have noticed a refreshed look along the park’s grounds at the Walkable Historical Timeline.

Dr. Keith L. Nelson and Dr. Spencer C. Olin began developing the Great Park Walkable Historical Timeline and its companion handbook in the early 2000s as a way to share the history that surrounded the Great Park, from our origins as a species from 13,000–11,000 BC, to the Global War, 1939–1949, focused on the decade during which the former Marine Corps Air Station El Toro was established, the Cold War in 1950–1990.

Recently, the City of Irvine hired Historical Research Associates, Inc. to update the timeline and the handbook. The revisions are intended to make these histories more relevant to current issues and more accessible and useful for contemporary audiences.

This 2025 update effort adds new timeline entries from 1991-2019 to the existing handbook and to the physical timeline at the Great Park. This includes a refreshed look with newly painted histories embellished into the grounds at the Great Park. The public history program at the Great Park will continue to evolve and will be shaped by the surrounding communities and world events.

Visit the updated timeline on your next visit to the park, and read the historical timeline to reflect and appreciate the past and a shared commitment to the community’s future.