Melrose-Backs Neighborhood Houses
historic place
The Melrose-Backs Neighborhood Houses in Anaheim, Orange County, California, represent a significant historic district. This area was a true family neighborhood, home to the prominent Kuechel, Melrose, and Backs families for 95 years. Conrad and Samantha Kuechel, original property owners, were among Anaheim's first German colonists. Their daughter, Mary, married Richard Melrose, and their daughter, Jessie, married Fred Backs, Jr.. The earliest houses, at the corner of Adele and Emily, were built in the early 1860s. Other homes in the district, along what is now Philadelphia Street, were constructed between 1903 and 1914. This includes the Fred Backs Honeymoon Cottage, built in 1903, and the Melrose House, built in 1910. The district also features the Ames house, built in 1911 by Judge Homer Ames. The Melrose-Backs Neighborhood is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. It is significant for its turn-of-the-century architecture, including Craftsman bungalows. This neighborhood stands as the best surviving example of Anaheim's early German family neighborhood tradition.