HUNTINGTON BEACH — The Historic Wintersburg Conservancy is organizing a campaign on GoFundMe.com to benefit Preserve Orange County Inc. The message reads as follows:
“Help the Historic Wintersburg Conservancy in the first phase of imagining a productive future for this 100-year-old site of Japanese American history in the heart of Huntington Beach …
“Historic Wintersburg consists of four extant structures on a 4.5-acre (1.8 ha) property representing the Furuta family home, the C.M. Furuta Goldfish Farm and the Wintersburg Japanese Mission. It is recognized nationally as a rare, Japanese pioneer-owned property that the National Trust for Historic Preservation named one of America’s 11 Most Endangered Historic Places in 2014 and designated a National Treasure in 2015.
“Honoring the work of local advocate and historian Mary Adams Urashima, who died in 2022, the Historic Wintersburg Conservancy is a group of concerned citizens supporting a vision for the site that includes restoring the historic church, barn, and two houses and rehabilitating the open land to create a place that values the past and provides a community amenity for the future.
“The $75,000 goal will support property acquisition, cultural landscape documentation, preparation of a National Register of Historic Places nomination, engineering assessment, and building stabilization.
“Any donation will help to make an impact. As a nonprofit corporation and tax-exempt charity, Preserve Orange County will hold and distribute the funds on the direction of the board of the Historic Wintersburg Conservancy.
“Preserve Orange County is based in Santa Ana … and has a mission to promote the conservation of Orange County’s cultural and architectural heritage through education, research and advocacy. For more information, please go to https://www.preserveorangecounty.org.”
Since the fundraiser was established on Sept. 11, $995 has been raised. To donate and comment, go to: www.gofundme.com/f/future-wintersburg