HUNTINGTON
BEACH HISTORY
By: Carolyn F. Baily - 1981
The city of
Huntington Beach is situated on a wedge-shaped mesa on
the Pacific Ocean. In its original state,
the mesa was almost surrounded by swamp
land. Continued seepage from widespread
artesian wells combined with the estuary of
the Santa Ana River on the south to form
acres of peat bogs and willow thickets. At
the foot of the west bluff a tidal lagoon
harbored various water fowl, shellfish and
related fauna and flora. These natural
condition virtually isolated the mesa from
the valley, well into the mid-19th century.
Archaeologists have
located sixteen sites of varying antiquity
on the mesa where Indians, called by the
Spaniards Gabrielinos, made camp. One
of these, a major camp and burial ground,
overlooked the Santa Ana River. It was
located on part of what is known today as
the Newland property, opposite Wycliffe's
4.6-acre plot on Beach Boulevard.
From 1542 to 1822, Spain
ruled what is now California. a few large
land grants were made during that period and
when Mexico achieved independence in 1822,
the Mexican governors of Alta California
made additional grants. Among these were the
Rancho Los Alamitos and the Rancho Las
Bolsas, by Governor Jose Figueroa. A Yankee
trader, Able Sterns, began lending money to
the grantee of Rancho Laos Alamitos and when
the owner could not pay the debt, Sterns
acquired the Rancho. His next acquisition
was the 156,000-acre Rancho Las Bolsas that
included what later would be called the city
of Huntington Beach as well as most of
Orange County.
In 1862 Sterns sold the
Rancho to The Los Angeles and San Bernardino
Land Company. The land was then placed under
the agency of Sterns' Rancho which acted as
a Realtor. This set the stage for rapid
development of the Santa Ana Valley, which
eventually included the founding of the city
of Huntington Beach--a unique story, so
recent in history that some of its
participants are still living.
STERNS RANCHOS COMPANY
After California was
admitted to the Union in 1850, a Land
Commission was established to verify early
surveys and proof of ownership. The owner of
the Rancho Las Bolsas, which included
modern-day Huntington Beach, could ill
afford the Land Commission's fees. So Abel
Sterns loaned the parties involved 50 young
cows to meet the commission's fees and cash
for other needs. The interest on the loan
was five percent compounded monthly! In
little more than a year's time the interest
rate had caused the debt to double. On
February 14, 1861, the Rancho went at public
auction to Stearns for $15,000, making him
the wealthiest ranchero in the Santa Ana
Valley.
The year held additional
rewards for Stearns. On Christmas Eve, 1861,
rain began falling in the valley and
continued for four weeks. The swollen Santa
Ana River left its banks and when the water
receded, the river had moved from the west
bluff of the Huntington Mesa tot he east
bluff of Costa Mesa. Since the river acted
as the eastern boundary of the Rancho Las
Bolsas, Stearns claimed the added strip of
land for the Rancho. A survey was ordered
and filed with the Land Commission which
upheld Stearns' claim. Curiously, the only
remaining maps showing the old and new
boundary lines are copies made by a
16-year-old-boy. The originals were
destroyed when the Stern's home office was
razed in the great San Francisco fire of
1906.
Riding high on financial
and property gains, Abel Stearns entered
1862 expecting even greater things. But a
two year drought set in causing the loss of
thousands of cattle. By 1868 Stearns had
suffered such financial reverses that he had
sold most of his land holdings to the Trust
which controlled the Stearns Ranchos
Company. the era of the large cattle ranchos
was on the way out. In its place came
agriculture, as ranchos were broken up and
generally sold in 40-acre farms.
Between 1894 and 1897,
Colonel Robert J. Northam, manager of the
Stearns Ranchos Company, acquired seven
parcels from the company. His activities as
manager and as a landowner on the Huntington
Mesa are inexorably tied to the Mesa's
development.
THE STANTON SYNDICATE
AND PACIFIC CITY
Colonel Robert J.
Northam's ranch house was located where the
Huntington Beach Company stands today. From
there the view was grand. The mesa's verdant
barley and alfalfa fields, interlaced with a
chain of sparkling fresh water pons, spread
all the way to colorful Shell Beach. Seed
barley from the mesa was sold to farmers who
had purchased, drained and cultivated the
rich alluvium of the swamps. Farmers fed the
grain to their cattle, and one by one, many
farmers began growing celery, an excellent
money crop. Of interest was the Colonel's
use of a flag system to signal prospective
feed buyers. When the flag was raised he was
ready to transact business; when lowered, it
signaled "no business at this time."
Early in 1901, Philip A.
Stanton and Colonel H. S. Finley are
reported to have looked down the mesa
escarpment to the lovely beach and rolling
surf, visualizing it as a perfect location
for a west coast rival to Atlantic City.
With the development of a resort city in
mind they formed a syndicate, The West Coast
Land and Water Company. Through it they
acquired 1,500 acres of land for $100,000
from Colonel Northam. On high ground
adjacent to the beach, 20 acres on either
side of Main Street were divided into lots
and streets. They named this 40-acre
development, Pacific City. To lend it an air
of life and permanency, they moved several
houses and a church on to the town site--the
houses from Newport, via the beach at low
tide, and the church from Fairview.
Stanton sold his interest
in the company in 1902 to three businessmen
who collaborated to buy out the West Coast
Land and Water Company and stimulate
interest and growth in Pacific City. Their
plan included securing mass transportation
to the town. Pacific City was still
essentially isolated from the valley, except
for a wagon trail that snaked over the mesa,
and from other beach towns at high tide.
Therefore, they sought out one man, Henry E.
Huntington, setting the stage for the next
step in the founding of Huntington Beach.
PACIFIC CITY BECOMES
HUNTINGTON BEACH
The men who purchased
Stanton's interest formed a new syndicate
that permitted unit holders of the original
Stanton syndicate to retain their interest
and take stock in the new company. Several
did, including Colonel H. S. Finley.
Although the site of
Pacific City held great promise, it lacked
easy access for prospective citizens and
land speculators. The syndicate, headed by
J. V. Vickers, approached Henry E.
Huntington, owner of the massive interurban
electric railway in southern California, and
asked him to extend the Long Beach line to
Pacific City. In return, Huntington was
offered a large block of stock in the new
company, free right-of-way along the ocean
front, one-twelfth of all subdivided land
lots and one-fifth interest in all ocean
front bluff property. The company would be
named The Huntington Beach Company and, the
coup de grace, Pacific City would be
renamed Huntington Beach. Huntington agreed
to extend the Long Beach rail line.
On Monday, July 4, 1904, a
crowd estimated at 50,000 witnessed the
dedication of the city of Huntington Beach
and the arrival of the first Pacific
Electric red cars. Following the dedication
11 beeves provided dinners for all while
eager customers besieged 52 real estate
agents for lots.
The Company invested
heavily in city improvements. A generator
was built to provide electricity. Telephone
service operated from 6 A.M. to 9 P.M.
Sidewalks, curbs and gutters were built. A
pavilion, an indoor plunge and a hotel were
constructed. Parks and a nursery, providing
free plants to residents, were among the
major projects undertaken
Within a year the surge of
growth declined. The Huntington Beach
Company was in debt and the community lay in
economic doldrums. At this juncture an event
occurred that brought much-needed cash to
the Company. Encyclopedia Americana
adopted a promotion plan offering the
purchaser of a Student's Reference set a
free lot as a bonus. A total of 420
"hillside and . . . canyon" lots were
purchased for this purpose from the
Huntington Beach Company. Little did each
"bonus" recipient know that in less than two
decades his lot might be worth a fortune.
DISCOVERY OF OIL DEFERS
DREAM OF RESORT TOWN
Evidences of gas and
petroleum in the Huntington Beach area date
back to prehistoric days. Indians used pitch
from the bogs to waterproof their baskets
and reed boats. The Spaniards added to this
the use of oil for fuel and medicinal
purposes.
As the area came under
cultivation, wells were dug for water.
Colonel Northam drilled a well on the
eastern slope of his property in order to
irrigate an alfalfa field that extended east
to Adams and Beach Boulevard. More gas than
water came in so the water could not be
pumped. The flow of gas was directed into
his house where it was used for light and
heat for many years.
In 1919 representatives of
the Huntington Beach Company met with
Standard Oil and leased 500 acres to
Standard for exploratory drilling.
Standard's "Bolsa Chica"
No. 1 is considered to be the Huntington
Beach Discovery Well. It came in as a gusher
producing 2,000 barrels per day (B/D).
Development of six areas and five major
booms followed, putting Huntington Beach on
the map as California's fourth largest oil
field.
The initial boom, located
in the Golden West-Garfield area, lasted
from 1920-1923. From 1922-1926 the low yield
Barley Field area was developed. The second
boom began when the Lower or Main Zone of
the 17th Street Townlot area was tapped in
1926. On the Pacific Coast Highway, Wilshire
Oil drilled "Huntington Beach" No. 15,
producing 4,800 B/D! Excitement ran high
over the production and the indication of
the Offshore Tidelands pool. Hundreds of
wells were drilled along the coast highway
using McVicar's whipstock tool for
directional drilling. The third boom was on.
A forest of derricks had
arisen around and in the town, but more were
to come. In 1936 the Five Points area was
developed. This was followed by a resurgence
of activity in 1943 and the drilling of
"Mize" No. 1 in the Townlot Tar Zone that
triggered the fourth boom. A dozen years
later the last boom occurred with the
development of the Southeast Townlot
Extension. During this period oil was
discovered on the property where Wycliffe's
new offices are being completed.
Unfortunately, the wells on the property are
no longer productive!
THROUGH SEVEN DECADES
When Philip Stanton sold
his interest in the West Coast Land and
Water Company in 1902, Colonel H. S. Finley
opted to join the new syndicate that formed
the Huntington Beach Company. It was Finley
who, as a boy of 16, had copied the map and
notes, the only surviving evidence of the
1862 survey of the Stearns Ranchos Company.
And it was Finley who owned the land upon
which Wycliffe's international offices are
being built.
In 1915, Finley sold this
property to C. G. Ward who owned it until
1948. Between 1948 and 1953 the property
changed owners twice and in 1953 Ralph E.
Welch purchased the land. Three years later
he deeded over a portion of it for use as
Welch's Ready Mixed Concrete Company and so
it remained until approximately 1969 when
the plant was dismantled and moved by Welch
to another location.
After the discovery of oil
in Huntington Beach, drilling on geologic
"highs" was common. Oil speculators leased
one of these "highs", known locally as the
Golden Dome, from C. G. Ward. Mrs. Maud
Brown, whose property fronted on Quincy (now
Adams), recalls that a well on the Dome came
in as a gusher in the early '20s, "spreading
casing-mud, rock and crude oil over
everything in its path." Oilman Howard
O'Brien remembers driving by on Harrison
(now Beach Boulevard) and seeing the gusher.
"My car wasn't affected," he says, "but
those passing on Quincy were a sight to
behold."
In 1931 the "Turner" No. 6
well was completed, the first of three wells
to be drilled on that part of the Dome mow
owned by Wycliffe. "Diane" No. 1 and "Paul
III" No. 1 were completed 26 years later.
None of the wells were large producers,
"Turner" No. 6 being abandoned within a
relatively short time.
As production declined,
the other two wells were abandoned also and
the sites restored, opening the way for
future construction. With this policy
continuing in the Huntington Beach area,
former Mayor Alvin M. Coen anticipates that
"even a few decades hence" all signs of the
oil industry will have vanished. Then
Huntington Beach will realize at last its
potential as a resort city.
Huntington Beach
History from City of Huntington Beach
In
1895, the Southern Pacific Railroad built a
line to Huntington Beach, connecting the
farming area to the Holly Sugar Plant which
had relocated to Santa Ana.
In 1901, Philip A. Stanton and Col. H.S.
Finley visited the area and recognized its
potential as a west coast resort rivaling
Atlantic City, New Jersey. They formed a
syndicate called the West Coast Land and
Water Co. They acquired 1,500 acres for
$100,000 and began dividing the area around
Main Street into lots and streets. They
named their new development Pacific City.
Eighteen months later, they sold out to
another group of investors, including Henry
E. Huntington. Hence the city's new name.
One of the first things the new Huntington
Beach Company did was construct a wooden
pier. The Pacific Electric Railway also now
connected the city to Long Beach. The city's
first telephone system was installed. It
operated from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m.
The city incorporated on Feb. 17, 1909.
The first mayor was Ed Manning. The city saw
its first school built the same year.
In 1920, oil was discovered, and the
small village quickly mushroomed into a
full-fledged boomtown. Pacific Coast Highway
was constructed in 1925, opening up access
to 8-1/2 miles of virgin beach and ushering
in the city's gradual transition to "Surf
City." By the 50's and 60's, Huntington
Beach had become the fastest growing city in
the nation. Today a population of
approximately 200,000, the city is world
renowned for its surfing and is becoming a
destination attraction.
The Pier is one of Huntington Beach's
focal points. The first pier, a 1,000 foot.
long timber structure, was built in 1904,
five years before the city's incorporation.
In 1912, winter storms nearly destroyed the
pier, and a $70,000 bond issue was approved
by the voters to build a new one. The new
1,350 ft. pier was the longest, highest, and
only solid concrete pleasure pier in the
United States at that time. In 1930, the
pier was lengthened by 500 ft. with a café
at the end. In 1939, a storm destroyed the
end of the pier and the café. After
reconstruction, it was re-opened in 1940. In
1941, the Navy commandeered the pier for
submarine watch during World War II. In
March of 1983, storms severely damaged the
end of the pier and the café, necessitating
demolition and closure of the end of the
pier. In September 1985, the rehabilitated
pier reopened with a new two story "End
Café," only to be washed away again on
January 17, 1988. The pier was declared
unsafe and closed on July 12, 1988. In July
1990, the construction bid for the new pier
was given to Reidel International. The new
pier replicated the historic architectural
style of the original 1914 concrete pier,
complete with arched bents. The pier was
built to withstand not only wave impact and
uplift, but also earthquakes. Today,
thousands of visitors stroll along the pier
and enjoy a meal at Ruby's Restaurant at the
end of the pier.
Huntington Beach is rich in history with
its beginning as an oil town. Today, the
Newland House still stands proud at Beach
Boulevard and Adams, a reminder of the
architecture as well as furnishings of the
early 1900's. Also of great historic value
is the City Gym & Pool located next to Dwyer
Middle School on Palm Avenue. The building
was constructed in 1931 and survived the
1933 earthquake, while other buildings did
not. In the 1960's, many buildings were
destroyed because they failed to meet new
earthquake standards. The School Board chose
to donate the facility to the City of
Huntington Beach. The city made structural
upgrades and it has since served as a
recreation center that has served the
community with a variety of programs and
recreational opportunities. The City Gym &
Pool was renovated using the original wood
in the gymnasium, and most of the fixtures
and windows were restored. The building was
rededicated on October 12, 2000.
