Wintersburg Village is an area in Huntington Beach, California, United States, that represents over a century of Japanese immigration to the United States. The property, consisting of six structures on a parcel, was noted as eligible for the National Register of Historic Places in the City of Huntington Beach General Plan in 2014. The C.M. Furuta Gold Fish Farm and the Wintersburg Japanese Mission are recognized nationally by historians as a rare, pre-1913 Japanese pioneer-owned property with intact physical features that convey the progression of Japanese American history.
Wintersburg Village is representative of Orange County's early agricultural history and the West Coast's immigration and civil liberties history. Three generations of Japanese American experience are represented: immigration of the Issei in the late 19th century, exclusion and Alien Land Laws of the early 20th century, the incarceration of American citizens of Japanese descent during World War II, and the return to California from World War II confinement in 1945.
History Its prehistory includes centuries of occupation by the Tongva, a native people of California. The property's modern history dates to the land purchase by Japanese immigrant pioneers in 1908, as part of the former land holdings of the Rancho Las Bolsas. A small agrarian complex emerged in the area, and residents built an armory and notable buildings including the Wintersburg Methodist Episocopal church in 1906, now called the Warner Avenue Baptist Church. Wintersburg Village was noted in 1983 as potentially eligible for the National Register of Historic Places during a cultural resource survey.The Warner Avenue Widening and Reconstruction Project, Cultural Resource Survey Report, Scientific Resource Surveys, Inc. for PRC Toups Corporation, November 1983 The property was designated a local historic landmark in 1986 by the City of Huntington Beach and noted as such in the City's General Plan.City of Huntington Beach, California, General Plan
After ownership for almost a century, the Furuta family, who were no longer farming, made the decision to sell the property. It was purchased in 2004 by Rainbow Environmental Services, a waste disposal company with a waste transfer station nearby. The property was proposed for rezoning to commercial and industrial use by Rainbow Environmental, along with a proposal for demolition of all historic structures. The effort to save and preserve Historic Wintersburg began several years after the property was sold in 2004, when news became public that the new owner planned re-zoning to commercial / industrial uses and demolish all historic and cultural resources. Preservationists began working with Rainbow Environmental in 2011 to purchase the property for historic preservation as a heritage park and for permission to stabilize the structures to prevent demolition by neglect.Demolition by Neglect, Preservation Law Education Materials, National Trust for Historic Preservation, http://www.preservationnation.org/information-center/law-and-policy/legal-resources/preservation-law-101/resources/Demolition-By-Neglect.pdf The goal of historic preservation is to create a permanent heritage site with public park uses.
In July 2012, the Huntington Beach City Council created the Historic Wintersburg Preservation Task Force.Future uncertain for historic Japanese church in H.B., Orange County Register, July 24, 2012, http://www.ocregister.com/articles/buildings-365191-japanese-church.html In November 2013, the City of Huntington Beach City Council certified the Environmental Impact Report which included an action to rezone the property to industrial and commercial uses, along with demolition of all six historic structures.Huntington Beach Council Okays Wintersburg Demolition, November 9, 2013, Rafu Shimpo, http://www.rafu.com/2013/11/huntington-beach-council-okays-wintersburg-demolition/Politics of Preservation: Olvera Street to Huntington Beach, KCET, November 22, 2013, http://www.kcet.org/socal/departures/columns/la-letters/politics-of-preservation-olvera-street-to-huntington-beach.htmlH.B. slates Historic Wintersburg site for new use, Orange County Register, November 5, 2013, http://www.ocregister.com/articles/site-534687-rainbow-historic.html Following this action, the Ocean View School District acting on behalf of the Oak View Elementary School adjacent to the site, filed two separate lawsuits, one against the City of Huntington Beach regarding the CEQA action and the second against Rainbow Environmental regarding their waste transfer operations.H.B. school district accuses waste hauler of health hazards, Orange County Register, December 17, 2013, http://www.ocregister.com/articles/rainbow-593665-district-company.html As of November, 2013, the preservation effort focused on purchase of the property, find a compromise preservation plan, or move the buildings before demolition proceeds.
In June 2014, Historic Wintersburg was included on the National Trust for Historic Preservation's annual list of America's 11 Most Endangered Historic Places, which highlights jeopardized American historical properties that need nationwide assistance to achieve preservation goals.Historic Wintersburg Named One of "Most Endangered Historic Places" in US, June 24, 2014, Japanese American Citizens League, https://www.jacl.org/historic-wintersburg-named-one-of-most-endangered-historic-places-in-usa/ OC history: Japanese-American site makes 'Most Endangered' list, KPPC, July 18, 2014, http://www.scpr.org/blogs/multiamerican/2014/07/18/17025/oc-japanese-american-most-endangered-wintersburg/ Urashima was recognized as a "Community Hero" by the Japanese American Citizens League Pacific Southwest District in September 2014.PSW JACL Sautes Community Heroes, Rafu Shimpo, October 2, 2014, http://www.rafu.com/2014/10/psw-jacl-salutes-community-heroes/ Rainbow was purchased in October 2014 by Republic Services with the discussions to preserve continuing.
The property was again deemed potentially eligible for the National Register of Historic Places in a historic resources survey prepared for the City of Huntington Beach, pending final approval by the city council in 2015. The property was inspected by representatives from the U.S. National Park Service in June, 2013, and deemed potentially eligible for the National Register of Historic Places under Criterion A, Japanese American Settlement of the American West.Historic Wintersburg Site Visit Trip Report, 2013. Elaine Retoundo-Jackson, PhD, Acting History Program Manager; Hank Florence, Cultural Partnership Program Lead/Historical Architect.
On the morning of February 25, 2022, fire of unknown origin destroyed the 1910 manse (parsonage) building and damaged the 1910 Wintersbug Japanese Mission building. Subsequently remains of both buildings were bulldozed before investigation could take place. The investigations by the Huntington Beach Fire Department and the Huntington Beach Police Department are ongoing as of March 14, 2022.J.K. Yamamoto, Second Building Demolished at Historic Wintersburg, The Rafu Shimpo, Los Angeles, California. March 3, 2022, https://rafu.com/2022/03/second-building-demolished-at-historic-wintersburg/
Description The site included six extant structures: the 1910 Japanese Presbyterian Mission, 1910 Manse (parsonage), 1934 Great Depression-era Japanese Presbyterian Church, 1912 Furuta bungalow, Furuta barn (1908–1912), and 1947 post-World War II Furuta ranch house.Urashima, Mary Adams (2014). Historic Wintersburg in Huntington Beach. History Press, The 19th-Century Wintersburg Village along with other properties in north Orange County was annexed into Huntington Beach in 1957. On Friday, February 25, 2022, two of the oldest structures for the Wintersburg Japanese Mission, founded in 1904, were lost to fire.Huang, Josie. "Fire Has Destroyed Part Of One Of The Oldest Japanese American Settlements. That May Be What It Takes To Save It." LAist, Los Angeles, California, March 2, 2022.
Property ownership pre-dates California’s Alien Land Laws of 1913 and 1920—state laws that prohibited those ineligible for citizenship, primarily Japanese immigrants, from property ownership. The property, originally , was purchased by Reverend Hisakichi Terasawa and Charles Mitsuji Furuta in 1908.Land deed of March 2, 1908, Orange County Recorder, Orange County Archives In 1912, it was deeded by Reverend Terasawa to Charles Mitsuji Furuta in its entirety,Land deed of February 28, 1912, Orange County Recorder, Orange County Archives with an understanding the small, northwest portion of the land would house the Japanese Presbyterian Mission.
The property is representative of the era of Japanese pioneer arrival and settlement of the American West, as well as the pursuit of citizenship and civil liberties by early 20th Century Japanese immigrants. Wintersburg Village iincludes both the C.M. Furuta Gold Fish Farm and the Wintersburg Japanese Presbyterian Mission, the oldest Japanese house of worship of any denomination in Orange County and in most of California.
Wintersburg Japanese Mission
The Wintersburg Japanese Mission originally was founded as a non-denominational, multi-faith and multi-ethnic effort by Christian and Buddhist supporters, first meeting in borrowed spaces in the Wintersburg Village before the acquisition of property in 1909. The clergy who assisted with the founding in 1904 represented the Episcopalian, Methodist and Presbyterian denominations. Original donation ledgers show contributions for the 1910 Mission and Manse (parsonage) buildings from both the Japanese American and European American (referred to as "American Friends") pioneer community from around Orange County. A 1930 history written by Mission clergy, Reverend Kenji Kikuchi, on the official adoption of the Mission as a Church with the Presbyterian U.S.A. notes that the Wintersburg Japanese Mission was known at that time to be "the oldest Japanese church in Southern California".Wintersburg Presbyterian Church, Santa Ana, California. Historical archives.
The Church is one of the fourteen missions established with the help of Dr. Ernest Adolphus Sturge, who was tasked to lead the Japanese Mission effort by the Presbyterian Church U.S.A.The Japanese Mission Trail: Lost and at-risk history along the Pacific Coast, Discover Nikkei, December 12, 2013, http://www.discovernikkei.org/en/journal/2013/12/12/japanese-mission-1/
The Mission effort originally was a multi-cultural and multi-faith effort, with involvement by Methodists, Buddhists and Presbyterians.Oral histories and donation records for Wintersburg Mission. The Church history describes clergy walking into the celery fields to meet and talk with Japanese immigrants in 1902. Originally meeting in a borrowed barn or cottages in Wintersburg Village, the Mission was founded in 1904, constructed its first buildings in 1910, and formally recognized as an official church by the Presbyterian Church U.S.A. in 1930. The church exists today as the Wintersburg Church in Santa Ana, California, and remains a predominantly Japanese American congregation.