Group hopes to honor city’s oil industry heritage

Tariq Malik

HUNTINGTON BEACH -- A small group of residents are hoping to honor the

oil industry with a neighborhood park, commemorating the industry’s role

as an economic powerhouse for the city.

Arline Huff Howard and other residents want to rename Peninsula Park,

an eight-acre recreation area at Goldenwest Street and Summit Drive, as

Discovery Well Park because of its history.

The site was the first spot in the city that black gold -- oil that is

-- bubbled to the surface in May 1920, launching a boom for the city’s

development and economy.

“The population went from 1,500 to 5,000 people almost overnight,” she

said. “It’s important for children today to remember the important role

oil played in the development of this city.”

The city’s policy for naming parks requires recreation areas to be

named after the oldest living former mayor, said Jim Engle, deputy

director of community services.

However, he added, because of the historic significance of the park

and special city provisions, naming it after the oil well is a viable

alternative.

Eighty years ago, the Standard Oil Co. pumped the first oil out of

Surf City from its Huntington A-1 well, which stood where the park is

today. In 1960, the city dedicated a monument and plaque to mark the site

that spurred an oil boom along the coastline.

“The oil business has definitely contributed much more financially

than surfing, farming or anything else that has been done in the city,”

Engle said.

In its peak year of 1923, oil companies drew 33.8 million barrels of

oil out of the ground and grossed up to $462 million in 1959. City

officials said the oil industry produces much less crude these days,

though wells scattered throughout the community continue to pump.

Community Service commissioners were receptive to the idea at their

last meeting and will discuss the renaming before reconvening next month,

city officials said.

The issue will go to the commission’s Park Naming and Memorials

Committee for study, then it will be forwarded to the commission and

finally the City Council for a final decision.