Community Corner
This Day in History: Honoring Culver City's Founder
Harry H. Culver died on this day in 1946 but his legacy lives on.
On Aug. 19, 1946, city founder Harry H. Culver died in a Hollywood hospital at the age of 66 after several strokes. Culver was known as tough and creative--a powerful combination.
Culver came to California in 1910, and after snagging a real estate job with I. N. Van Nuys, he turned down a promotion and went into business for himself. One of his projects was creating his own city. Culver mapped out the boundaries between the pueblo of Los Angeles and Abbot Kinney's resort of Venice.
He announced his plans for Culver City at the California Club in Los Angeles in 1913.
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In order to fully immerse himself in his new community, he then formed the Culver Investment Co. and worked from his Main Street office. To make his new city successful, Culver brought busloads of people to free picnics, held marathons, put on special events and awarded as many people as he could with various honors. He spared no creativity with awards, even giving recognition to parents of the "prettiest baby"--all in the name of providing a community feel.
In addition to creating community, Culver was a smart businessman with a large sales force behind him. He and this team established the Hotel Hunt--now known as the Culver Hotel--in 1924. Always the Renaissance man, Culver even delved into local politics for a short time. His goal? For the new city to live up to the ads he put in local newspapers in the early 20th century: "All roads lead to Culver City."
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He also helped surrounding areas, donating the first acreage for Loyola University. And in order to stay close to his beloved city, he built a family home on Delmas Terrace, but later moved to Cheviot Hills.
Throughout Culver's life--and even after his death--his family members continued to visit the city that bore their name. Daughter Pat Culver visited Culver City until her passing at the age of 84 in 2001.
We honor Harry H. Culver today.
Historical information was provided by Culver City records and is available to read at CulverCity.org.
