Historic Wintersburg: In the News

Wintersburg Japanese Presbyterian Mission, circa 1910-1911.  The Mission was constructed between 1909 and 1910, and the manse in 1910.  A few of the gum trees shown in the photograph still stand near the Mission building. (Photo courtesy of Wintersburg Presbyterian Church)
 

Postcard image of the 1934 Wintersbug Japanese Presbyterian Church building, built during the Great Depression. (Photograph courtesy of Wintersburg Presbyterian Church)

The stories of Historic Wintersburg are making the news.  Here are a few of the recent stories about us:

City of Huntington Beach Mayor Connie Boardman with Orange County Register reporter Jaimee Lynn Fletcher by the 1910 Wintersburg Japanese Presbyterian Mission, January 9, 2013.

Group trying to save O.C. Japanese historical site
Orange County Register, http://www.ocregister.com/news/site-383691-japanese-city.html 

Martha Furuta and her son, Norman Furuta.  Martha was married to Charles Mitsuji and Yukiko Furuta's son, Raymond, a Huntington Beach High School alumni.  (Photograph courtesy of the Furuta family)

Wintersburg grandson reflects on life on the farm
Orange County Register, http://www.ocregister.com/news/farm-383683-furuta-life.html

5 questions with...Wintersburg Preservation leader
Orange County Register, http://www.ocregister.com/news/site-383684-japanese-county.html

Eileen Frere, KABC Channel 7 News, at Historic Wintersburg on January 21, 2013. 

Eileen Frere chats with Dennis Masuda near the 1910 Mission and 1934 Church buildings.  The Masuda family were congregants and Dennis remembers going to Sunday school in the Mission building.  (Photo, January 21, 2013)

Site of historic Huntington Beach Japanese church may face demolition
KABC Channel 7 News, http://abclocal.go.com/kabc/story?section=news%2Flocal%2Forange_county&id=8964371 

Reporter Art Barron, CBS Los Angeles, in front of the Furuta family barn, January 17, 2013.

OC Preservationists fight to save site as piece of Japanese-American history
CBS Los Angeles, http://losangeles.cbslocal.com/video/8203784-oc-preservationists-fight-to-save-site-as-piece-of-japanese-american-history/

A portion of a mural that once graced the parking area of the Huntington Beach Art Center, between 1995 to 2000.  The mural depicts the Furuta family, the goldfish and water lilies they farmed, the 1934 building of the Wintersburg Japanese Presbyterian Church, the barracks of the Poston Arizona Relocation Center, and Huntington Beach's famous Golden Bear and pier.  (Photograph courtesy of Furuta family)

The "Prospectus" document used to gain support for the construction of the Mission building from the Orange County Japanese community.  It was written circa 1904. (Image courtesy of Wintersburg Presbyterian Church)

Discover Nikkei, the international publication of the Japanese American National Museum, re-published the Historic Wintersburg blog post, "Why Orange County's Japanese Community Built a Church in Wintersburg."
http://www.discovernikkei.org/en/journal/2013/1/21/ja-church-wintersburg/

Discover Nikkei, the international publication of the Japanese American National Museum, featured an article about Historic Wintersburg for their Japanese-speaking readership, written by Japanese researcher Takamichi Go,
http://www.discovernikkei.org/ja/journal/2013/1/29/mary-urashima/

Gum trees next to the boarded up manse, constructed in 1910.  (Photograph, January 17, 2013)