Re: “99 Years Old and Firing Rockets”
Almost 50 years before Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. made “I have a dream” famous, Harry Culver entertained a dream.
In the midst of 99th Birthday Week for Culver City, the community’s birth story merits a retelling.
Paternity easily is traced to A Man with a Vision, and what Harry Culver foresaw soon distinguished Culver City from evert surrounding settlement.
The Man with a Vision and the ambitious motion picture formed a handsome couple for the history books.
Industriously, movie moguls in the teen years of the 20th century – while World War I raged — built Culver City into the Heart of Screenland.
Paul Jacobs, chair of the Centennial Celebration Committee, revisited the Creation Story.
“Culver City was the creation of a realtor, Mr. Culver, who foresaw that between Los Angeles and Venice there was an opportunity to grow a community,” Mr. Jacobs said.
“He promoted the city.
“In doing that, an important component was providing incentives to the movie industry to obtain property here. Because of that, they were able to grow that incredible new industry.”
Harry Culver was a distinguished beacon among founders of communities in Los Angeles County, Mr. Jacobs said.
He snagged the plum industry, the one that made Culver City a famous destination.
Harry Culver stands alone when saluting founding fathers, said Mr. Jacobs.
“I don’t know if any other incorporators, promoters, developers foresaw what Mr. Culver did in attracting a new movie industry that would also be attractive for the purchases of homes in this new community,” he said.
See www.culvercity100.org for a peek at year-long Centennial highlights, starting with Saturday morning’s Opening Day parade that starts at 9 o’clock.
