1986 Survey of Orange County's historic Japanese American sites

 Updated March 2022

 

   Orange County's Japanese American Council  in association with the Bowers Museum conducted a survey in 1986 of pre-World War II Japanese-related sites.  "Orange County's first Japanese pioneers arrived in the 1890s, but it was not until the early 1900s that they began to have an impact on the County.  Churches and schools served as focal points for small Japanese American communities that developed throughout the County.  By 1940, more than 1800 Japanese Americans lived here, farming over 11,000 acres."

The front side of the Orange County Japanese American Council's 1986 "Historic Building Survey" includes the Wintersburg Japanese Presbyterian Mission as the featured property.

   Many of the buildings included in the 1986 survey no longer exist.  The Wintersburg Japanese Presbyterian Mission is highlighted on the survey brochure cover and listed as number one on the survey. 

 

   The 1986 survey by the Japanese American Council coincided with the the City of Huntington Beach historic resources survey in 1986, which focused primarily on the downtown but did include the 1912 Furuta bungalow and "old Japanese Church" (Wintersburg Japanese Mission) with the designation of Local Landmark status. 

 

   A year earlier in 1985, the California Department of Transportation, aka Caltrans, conducted a historic resources survey along Warner Avenue to determine historic, cultural and archaeological properties. Caltrans final report prepared by Scientific Resource Surveys, Inc., includes references to the Furuta property and Wintersburg Japanese Mission complex historic significance and concluded the property was eligible for the National Register of Historic Places.

 

The south view of the Wintersburg Japanese Mission as it looked in 1991. To the right is the 1934 Wintersburg Japanese Presbyterian Church building. (Photo courtesy of Doug McIntosh.) © ALL RIGHTS RESERVED 

   

   Caltrans assessed historic properties "according to Cal Trans “Procedures for the Protection of Historic Resources,” (Section 106), M82—15, Appendix F. The guidelines mandate that the structures retain integrity of location and design in order to qualify for the National Register of Historic Places." The Caltrans historic resources report further remarked that the bungalow style architecture of the Wintersburg Japanese Mission and manse "may be the oldest surviving bungalow church structure in Orange County (Winter 1980)."  

 

   Update: both the 1910 Wintersburg Japanese Mission and 1910 Manse were lost to fire in February 2022 due to neglect and lack of security at the property by the current owner, Republic Services. The Historic Wintersburg property and its historic resources remain critically endangered due to ongoing demolition by neglect.

 

The 1910 Manse (parsonage) of the Wintersburg Japanese Mission as it looked in 1991. The Manse was immediately to the south of the 1910 Mission with a connecting walkway for the clergy. (Photo courtesy of Doug McIntosh.) © ALL RIGHTS RESERVED 
 

   The City of Huntington Beach did not conduct another historic resources survey until circa 2009, twenty-three years later. Approximately 70-percent of the historic structures identified in the 1986 survey were gone.  

 

   Update: When the results of the survey and its historic designations were received by the City Council and added to the City of Huntington Beach General Plan in 2015, the Historic Wintersburg property including the Furuta homes and Wintersburg Japanese Mission complex---each of the then-extant individual structures--were designated as eligible for the National Register of Historic Places. Also in 2015, the Historic Wintersburg property was designated a National Treasure by the National Trust for Historic Preservation. In 2017, Preserve Orange County designated Historic Wintersburg one of Orange County's Most Endangered.

 

   The historical designations--from Local Landmark to National Register eligible--must be considered during public environmental review under the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) for any proposed land use action or change to the structures. The current status of the Historic Wintersburg property and its extant structures would require an Environmental Impact

The majority of Japanese American historic buildings listed on the 1986 survey have since been lost to demolition, neglect by present-day property owners, vandalism, fire, and redevelopment.

See the brochure at http://www.huntingtonbeachca.gov/files/users/library/complete/080221-5.pdf

The 1912 Furuta family home, circa 2007, facing what once was Wintersburg Avenue, now Warner Avenue. The second Furuta family home--the 1947 ranch house off Nichols Lane--was built post-WWII incarceration.  The windows of the 1912 Furuta home are boarded up in this image, although there is still a hint of the meticulously maintained gardens. The carefully manicured boxwood hedge were removed by the current property owner, Rainbow Environmental Services. Update: as of 2014, the property owner is Republic Services due to their purchase of Rainbow Environmental Services. © ALL RIGHTS RESERVED  

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