Wintersburg
Henry Winters arrived in California in 1888 and purchased twenty acres in what is now Huntington Beach. He gradually expanded his holdings, successfully growing celery, potatoes, and corn. His success attracted others to this part of Orange County, which was previously believed to have poor land for agriculture. In 1897, James McFadden constructed a railroad here on land donated by Winters. By 1902, over two thousand acres of celery were grown in the area, and sugar beets were also becoming a popular crop. In 1906, a townsite map was filed - local resident James Cain petitioned for it to be named "Wintersburg" after Winters' contributions. Further sugar beet growth was spawned by the the completion of the Holly Sugar Company's refinery in Huntington Beach in 1911.
By 1910, Wintersburg had become home to a prominent Japanese community. A Japanese Presbyterian Mission was established by Reverend Hisakichi Terasawa in 1904, but a permanent building wasn't completed until 1910 on land donated by Charles M. Furuta. In addition to the mission church, a manse or parsonage was also constructed. Around this time, Japanese - or nikkei - farms began producing chili peppers; by the 1920s over half the nation's supply was provided by these farms. In addition, a Japanese market was opened by Tsumuratsu Asari, a school was established to serve the community, and Furuta started the first commercial goldfish farm in the area. By 1932, the 1910 mission was outgrown, and Furuta again donated land for a new Presbyterian church, completed in 1934.
Wintersburg continued to enjoy relative success until 1941. Following the attack on Pearl Harbor, most Japanese living and working in the area were forcibly relocated and incarcerated. After 1945, it is unknown how many returned to Wintersburg. Among those that did were the Furuta family, who thereafter farmed sweet pea and water lily.
Charles & Yukiko Furura lived out the remainder of their days as caretakers of the historic community. Charles passed in 1953, followed by Yukiko in the 1980s. The property subsequently passed through a number of hands with an uncertain future. In 2012, the Historic Wintersburg Preservation Task Force was formed to attempt preservation of the site. By 2014, Historic Wintersburg was listed as one of America's 11 Most Endangered Places by the National Trust for Historic Preservation. The following year, it was labeled a National Treasure. Nevertheless, the six remaining buildings continued to deteriorate. The Task Force was disbanded in 2019, but the fight continued. Unfortunately, a fire of unknown origin on February 25, 2022 struck the property, destroying the manse and damaging the 1910 mission. Both buildings were promptly bulldozed by the landowner. Despite the loss, the battle to save Historic Wintersburg will continue, and many hope that it will shed light on the importance of the site's preservation.
