Source: The Orange County Register
http://www.ocregister.com/news/church-248114-japanese-buddhist.html
The Orange County Buddhist Church has been a fixture in western Anaheim since 1965, but its history stretches back for decades.
Starting in about 1920, "dharma talk gatherings" were held in private homes in Orange County, with ministers traveling from Los Angeles to lead them. In 1935, the first permanent church structure in the history of Orange County's Buddhists was constructed in Fountain Valley.
The church's growth was disrupted when many Japanese-American members of the church were sent to internment camps during World War II; upon their return, the church was reopened as a hostel for those without a place to live.
In 1958, the Buddhist church moved to a building in Stanton, where the community remained until the construction of the Anaheim church.
Today, the congregation — made up of about 500 families from Orange, Riverside, and Los Angeles counties — is looking ahead to its 50th anniversary.