JERRY PERSON -- A Look Back

Back in 1904, when Pacific City became known as Huntington Beach,

there stood on the corner of Main Street and Orange Avenue a chapel.

Inside this simple converted wooden house at 326 Main St., a small

Baptist congregation held Sunday services.

As Christmas approached in 1904, the Rev. N.C. Gardner arrived in

Huntington Beach with his wife to minister to this band of Baptists. The

town and congregation grew, and so did the need for larger quarters. By

Jan. 2, 1905, Gardner met with 13 members of the church to plan a bigger

church.

In less than a week, the group had picked out a new site at the corner

of 6th Street and Orange Avenue. Work was started on Monday morning, Jan.

10, 1905, as each of the men in the congregation arrived to hammer and

saw the wood into a new edifice.

These men were lucky because the Rev. Gardner was an expert carpenter

and craftsman. By late Saturday night, the little church was finished. It

had taken only six days to build.

Today it would take longer than that to just get a building permit.

The congregation met Sunday, Jan. 16, and Gardner dedicated the

“first” church building that was originally designed to be a church

structure in Huntington Beach.

But Huntington Beach was growing, and so was the church membership.

The need again arose for a larger building. The six-day structure was

replaced in 1906 by the building you see today.

The dedication ceremony took place for the new church on May 10, 1906,

thanks in part to J.B. Ramsey and his sons, who helped lay the foundation

and donated to the church’s building fund.

The first service was held June 17, 1906, with Pastor Haulman from the

nearby Christian Church providing the opening service followed by the

hymn “God is Love,” sung by the Prado sisters.

A prayer was offered by the Rev. George Graff of the local Methodist

Church. A bell was added to the church’s bell tower, and pioneer grocer

W.L. McKinney and his wife donated the wooden pews. The Sundby family

helped form the church choir for the dedication ceremony.

In 1921, the Rev. Luther A. Arthur began his long-running ministry of

some 33 years at the church. And for 56 years, Huntington Beach resident

William Somers “Shorty” Preston served as the official greeter each

Sunday at the front door until his death in 1962.

The Baptist congregation remained in that church building for more

than a half-century before moving to a larger location.

Today the Community Bible Church and the Harbour Community Church

share the building for their Sunday morning services. As for the first

chapel that served that first congregation at 326 Main St. in 1904, well

that was moved to 1018 Delaware St. and served as a home for the James

Gillis family for years. It is still there today.

And the bell that hung in the bell tower and called worshipers to

church is now embedded in the front wall of the Baptist Church on

Magnolia Street in Fountain Valley.

* JERRY PERSON is a local historian and longtime Huntington Beach

resident. If you have ideas for future columns, write him at P.O. Box

7182, Huntington Beach, CA 92615.