Fullerton, city, Orange county, southern California, U.S. Fullerton is adjacent to Anaheim and 22 miles (35 km) southeast of metropolitan Los Angeles. The city, once part of the territory of the Gabrielino (Tongva) Indians, was founded in 1887 by George and Edward Amerige, grain merchants originally from Massachusetts, and named for George H. Fullerton, president of the Pacific Land and Improvement Company, who promised to run a railroad through the town. After the arrival of the Santa Fe Railway in 1888, the city developed as a citrus centre. Oil was discovered in the 1890s and became a mainstay of the economy. Industry and manufacturing developed after World War II, and the area enjoyed a residential boom. The city is the seat of Southern California College of Optometry (1904), a community college (1913), California State University, Fullerton (1957), and Western State University College of Law (1966). Inc. city, 1904. Pop. (2010) 135,161; (2020) 143,617.