In 1872, Stephen McPherson (1839-1917) and his younger brother Robert McPherson (1841-1917) purchased 220 acres east of the Santiago Creek, in what is now Orange, California, and planted most of it in raisin grapes, the first such vineyard in California. The brothers formed a partnership, McPherson Brothers, which became immensely successful, and by the mid-1880s it was the largest raisin business in California. In 1887, a land boom swept over Southern California. To cash in on the boom, the brothers converted much of their land to a town site, which they named McPherson, mortgaging the property and tearing out most of their vines to make way for streets and housing lots. The town was only a few weeks old when the real estate boom collapsed, disease killed off the remaining grape vines, and, in spite of efforts to refinance, the mortgage was foreclosed. Stephen McPherson was able to salvage only 23 mortgaged, unproductive acres around his home, which he planted with more conventional crops, in particular citrus, selling them under various names, such as "McPherson Vegetable Company".