A Brief History of Huntington Beach CA

The area was originally occupied by the Tongva people. European settlement began when a Spanish soldier, Manuel Nieto received a Spanish land grant of 300,000 acres in 1784 as a reward for his military service and to encourage settlement in Alta California.

In 1895 a railway connection was established, and Philip A. Stanton and Col. H.S. Finley recognized the area as a potential rival to Atlantic City in New Jersey, on the west coast. Huntington Beach incorporated in 1909 under its first mayor, Ed Manning. Its original developer was the Huntington Beach Company, a real-estate development firm owned by Henry Huntington, a railroad magnate after whom the city is named. The Huntington Company is still a major land-owner in the city, and still owns most of the local mineral rights.

In 1920 oil was discovered, and started Huntington Beach into a modern, booming economy, and one of the fastest growing cities at the time.