Yorba Linda, city, Orange county, southern California, U.S. The area was explored by a Spanish expedition in 1769, and in 1801 Juan Pablo Grijalva received a Spanish land grant known as Rancho Santiago de Santa Ana; Grijalva’s descendants, the Peraltas and the Yorbas, inherited the land, and the Yorba family retained ownership until the mid-19th century. In 1907 part of the former Yorba land was sold to the Janss Corporation, which subdivided it and named the new city Yorba Linda (linda meaning “pretty” in Spanish). The city developed as a livestock, agricultural (citrus, avocados, tomatoes, and cabbage), and—with the establishment of the Pacific Electric Railroad line in 1918—transportation centre. Agricultural lands were retired with the post-World War II expansion of Orange county’s municipalities, and Yorba Linda is now a mainly residential community of the Los Angeles metropolitan area. It is the site of the Richard Nixon Library and Birthplace. Chino Hills State Park is adjacent to the city. Inc. 1967. Pop. (2000) 58,918; (2010) 64,234.