Waves of time

Rapid growth during the previous two decades in Huntington Beach caused

some serious problems during the 1970s. These concerns received attention

from both city officials and residents who formed or joined groups to

study the problems and offer solutions or make recommendations. The

efforts earned the city recognition from the National Municipal League’s

All America Contest, which selected Huntington Beach as a finalist in the

top 22 cities in the nation.

UC Irvine also honored Huntington Beach with an award for its resident

involvement and government cooperation along the waterfront and byways in

the areas of landscaping, preservation of natural resources and in the

interest of people in the community making the city not just good but the

best.

The early 1970s saw an emphasis on the improvement of cultural and

ecological climate through the efforts of residents and government. The

City Council established an environmental council and an art and cultural

council.

The population boom also called for more parks and open space around the

city. Under the leadership of the newly founded People for Parks

committee, residents approved a $6 million park bond. Two community

parks, as well as several neighborhood parks, were completed by 1973. The

city also took some land and developed it into the 400-acre Central City

Park, officially dedicating it in 1974.

On a hill in Central City Park overlooking Lake Talbert, the Huntington

Beach Central Library opened its doors a year later. World-renowned

architects Richard and Dion Neutra designed the $3-million library.

The flourishing land development and construction occurring over the

previous years aroused an interest in the city’s history. The Huntington

Beach Historical Society was established and dedicated itself to the

preservation and collection of artifacts and data.

In 1972, the city hired the Pacific Coast Archeological Society to survey

and study possible sites where the Native American tribes of the

Gabrielenos and Wainalenos lived centuries earlier.

The archeologists discovered 21 sites throughout the city. Significant

finds along the bluffs showed Native Americans lived in the area during

two periods: 400 to 800 years ago and 2,000 to 6,000 years ago. An

American Indian maiden, fully intact, was found in what archeologists

believe to be a burial ground or village.

In 1974, the city and the Huntington Beach Historical Society agreed to

restore the historical Victorian home of Mary and William Newland as a

museum that would serve as a centerpiece in the newly established Central

Park. A low point in the house’s restoration came when vandals set fire

to a mattress in the vacant boarded-up house, burning a hole in the roof

and causing serious damage to the second floor.

In addition, the water used to put the fire out ruined the plaster walls

throughout the house. But the Historical Society members went to work

repairing the damage and restoring the house to its former beauty.