I hear that Rainbow Disposal may demolish several historic buildings from the early Japanese community at Wintersburg, to make way for a dumpster storage yard! On the southeast corner of Warner Ave. and Nichols in what is now Huntington Beach, these buildings include both the 1910 and 1934 incarnations of the Wintersburg Japanese Presbyterian Church, as well as the old C. M. Furuta home. The photo above shows the newer, 1934 church, and the photo below shows the 1910 building.
The 1910 building, seems like it could be easily moved to another site for preservation. If we can't keep it in Huntington Beach, I think a great location would be next to the Orange County Agricultural & Nikkei Heritage Museum at CSUF.Everyone talks a good game about "multiculturalism," but let's see if all the fuss actually translates into action. If nothing else, I think Rainbow Disposal wouldn't mind some good P.R. in the community.
Below is one additional photo of the Furuta home. Like the churches (and about a block of farm and gardens), the house is now surrounded by construction fencing -- mainly to keep the vandals out.
Wintersburg is the most important historic Asian-American community in O.C. of which there is any remaining physical evidence. It would be more than just a crying shame to see these landmarks destroyed.
I now know the history of this little section of Huntington Beach. I always wondered about these buildings and what they were a part of. Too bad we are a society of 'tear-down' and not more like other places where you can see the history just by travelling the roads.
ReplyDeleteWho owns these? We are a new multicultural mennonite church plant looking for a building to aquire and invest elbow grease into. Is this building available for sale to other non-profits?
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