IN THE PIPELINE:Huntington has history worth marking

We just got back from an extended trip through some of our country’s most hallowed, historic sites. We traced many (formerly bloody) footsteps in Gettysburg and located the exact spot where Lincoln gave his address (hint—it’s not where the famous statue says it is).

At the Manassas battlefield in Virginia, where the famous Confederate General Thomas Jackson earned the nickname “Stonewall,” it’s hard to comprehend the sound and fury that once rocked the now-peaceful meadows.

Our history hunting continued throughout Washington, D.C., and then in New York, from the site of Washington’s inauguration to having dinner at the table where the great writer O. Henry wrote “The Gift of the Magi.” What strung much of our journey together were things I’d like to see more of here in Huntington Beach: historic markers.

We saw markers that celebrated events both profound (where Abe Lincoln died) to the mundane (a tree where he once rode past on horseback). Collectively they reminded me, as they always do, of how important it is for a place to mark its moments, whatever those moments happen to be.

Now, I know there’s no comparing the history here with what’s located in the East. That’s like comparing the United States with Europe, Russia, Egypt, China, etc. But just because Huntington Beach is relatively new on the history scale, it doesn’t mean we don’t have our share of places that help define where we live.

Plus, the more new “upscale” development that takes place, the more the simple past will be covered, buried and forgotten. So why not begin a program of historic markers throughout the city to illustrate and remind people of where the city has been?

I wrote City Council members last week to see what they thought, and I am still awaiting their reply. I’ll let you know what I hear back.

There are some small plaques randomly dotting the city: a brass marker where the Standard Market used to be, and a nice plaque on the Longboard Restaurant & Pub identifying it as the oldest remaining building in Huntington Beach (1904). There’s also a marker near where the first big oil strike hit. These are good, but with the city’s 100th anniversary of incorporation approaching in 2009, I think this would be an excellent time to invest in an official city marker program; a unifying set of photo plaques to help bring the city’s past to life.

Maybe you’ll scoff at the notion that we have much history worth marking, but consider the sites that could be called out: The old Golden Bear nightclub, the Salt Water Plunge, Surf Theater and the old Gun Club. How about the old Holly Sugar Factory on Garfield Avenue and Main Street, the Methodist Encampment, and the train station, the First and Last Chance restaurant?

Sites of famous oil gushers, surf-related sites, where plots of land people got free for buying sets of encyclopedias were located, the Huntington Hotel, a site for Henry Huntington.

There are dozens of other businesses, residences and event sites that, while perhaps small on the grand scale, are still integral to this town’s history and context, and they deserve to be marked. As more and more tourists are lured here by the new hotels and shops near Main Street, it’s an opportunity to educate them about why this place matters.

As more older buildings are bulldozed and replaced with generic homes and malls, it’s a good time to remind people that architecture wasn’t always so boring. But bigger than both those things, for locals (especially kids) it’s a chance to educate, inform and inspire pride about Huntington Beach.

A city’s history is a city’s soul, and today Huntington Beach is, in my opinion, sorely lacking when it comes to publicly documenting historic sites.

Beyond the Newland House and Surfing Museum, I hope someday there is a dedicated Huntington Beach History Museum (along the lines of what Brea is working on) but for now I’m sure that’s a ways off. However, a marker program in conjunction with the city’s 100th anniversary seems perfectly appropriate to me.

What do you think? Where would you place historic markers in Huntington Beach?