Preservationists trying to save the historic Japanese American site of Wintersburg in California won two major victories Thursday.
The Orange County Register reports the early 20th Century Japanese American settlement in Huntington Beach has been named a national treasure by the National Trust for Historic Preservation.
At about the same time, a report by the Urban Land Institute recommended preserving some of the site’s historic buildings while building a business park and maintaining open space.
“We definitely recognize the significance and rarity (of Wintersburg,)” said Keven Sanada of the National Trust.
The Historic Wintersburg Preservation Task Force has been pushing to save the six historic structures at Wintersburg that date back to 1910. They are considered a reminder of the Alien Land Law of 1913 which prohibited Japanese-born residents from owning land.
Rainbow which purchased the property in 2004 says it has no specific plans for the site, but that destroying the structures are “not in the cards right now.”
You can read a lot more about the Urban Land Institute report and how it might help save the structures in the Orange County Register.
