The first wielder of the gavel

JERRY PERSON

Nestled on the outskirts of Downtown Huntington Beach is a small

patch of green that the neighbors know as Manning Park.

It’s one of many neighborhood parks scattered throughout the city,

but this little spot of ground honors the name of the city’s first

mayor, Ed Manning.

It was on a crisp morning that a small group of people assembled

at the park site to watch the dedication of the park on April 29,

1987.

There was a wisp of fog in the air that morning as the crowd

waited for the event to start. Jim Engle stepped up to the microphone

to welcome those in attendance.

Next to the podium was our own “Maverick Mayor,” Jack Kelly, who

offered thanks for coming on this cool morning and told the crowd a

little about the man whose name graced the park.

Seated on stage with Kelly were Ray Picard, Max Bowman and Charles

Thompson. Kelly then introduced members of the Manning family and

presented the family with a plaque to mark the occasion. Included in

this family reunion was the gracious former city clerk, Alicia

Wentworth.

It was on a cold Illinois day on March 20, 1872, that Edmond L.

Manning was born. The young Manning would receive his early education

in the Illinois schools, but by 1892 he journeyed west to California,

where he remained for the rest of his life.

In 1904, our beach town of Pacific City had its name changed to

Huntington Beach, the same year Manning came here to live.

In 1904, Huntington Beach was a sleepy little beach town, and as

far away from civilization as one could get. But Henry Huntington

purchased land here for development, and with the help of his Pacific

Electric streetcars, brought people with money from Los Angeles to

invest in his future gold mine.

With people building beach homes, a plumber would be needed, and

as Manning was a plumber by trade, it was only natural that he opened

a plumbing shop here. At this time, America was engrossed in baseball

and many of our young men, including Manning, were to be found

outdoors playing ball in some vacant lot.

In 1907, Manning’s business was awarded seven good contracts in

Newport, our city to the south. He still managed to find time to play

and ump at some of our local ball games, where some locals thought he

was a “mighty bum baseball umpire.”

As the year 1909 dawned, the town of 915 people were eager to

incorporate as a city and on Feb. 17, 1909, the citizens got their

wish.

On Feb. 18, the first trustee meeting of the newly incorporated

city was held and they chose Manning as the city’s first mayor. Also

one of their first actions was to approve Ordinance No. 3 on Feb. 23

for the design of the Seal of the City of Huntington Beach.

This seal featured ocean waves and an outline of Catalina as seen

from our city. A lot of people think the city seal is the HB with a

sailboat, atom, surfer and home, but that is our city logo, which

John Casado designed in 1968.

The city hall for this new city was just a small room on the side

of the First National Bank, on Walnut Avenue at Main Street next to

the post office.

Manning’s plumbing business got the contract for the plumbing

inside the new bathhouse in Newport and this building is still

standing today as the Pavilion on Balboa peninsula.

Being mayor of Huntington Beach meant he would have to make

speeches, one of which occurred at 10:30 a.m. on July 4, 1910, where

he stood and welcomed people to our patriotic event.

On April 15, 1912, Manning resigned as mayor in favor of W.D.

Seely. Manning had nominated Seely as mayor, but Manning would

continue as a trustee until Nov. 20, 1912.

Manning returned as a city trustee on Feb. 17, 1919, and was put

in charge of the city’s advertising campaign to promote our wonderful

city.

On April 19, 1920, Manning became mayor of our city for a second

time, when the oil boom was just getting under way and the city’s

population swelled threefold. Realizing how important our great oil

field business was to Huntington Beach, Manning erected a warehouse

at Main Street and Acacia Avenue that helped supply oil-well

drillers.

At this same time, his business was awarded a contract to erect

boilers for Association Oil Supply Co. To help in this effort, E.D.

Wygant was appointed Manning’s field manager.

Manning remained a city trustee until April of 1922. He and his wife Carrie and their three daughters -- Pauline, Mildred and Nona,

lived in their single-story house at 701 Delaware St. His home was

recently moved to a lot near Garfield, and its fate is uncertain.

When the Lions Club was chartered here in June of 1922, Manning

became its president to become the “Big Roar” of the den. Manning

would remain in the city he loved for the rest of his life. He died

on Dec. 20, 1942.

On the inside of our city hall is Ed Manning’s gavel, mounted on a

plaque that he used on the first days of incorporation, a fitting

tribute to the man who led the city in its early years through

incorporation and the hectic days of the oil boom.

* 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.