Henry Huntington: The Man Behind the Many “Huntingtons” Today

Henry Edwards Huntington was an American railroad businessman and art and rare books collector. He was born in Oneonta, New York on February 27, 1850. He moved to Los Angeles where he founded the Pacific Electric Railway. He also owned substantial interests in real estate and has spent a considerable amount of money in collecting art works and rare books.

Huntington’s uncle, Collis, was one of the four investors in the Central Pacific Railroad. Huntington has worked alongside his uncle in many executive positions in Southern Pacific Transportation Company.

In 1898, Huntington acquired the Los Angeles Railway which was known at that time in its colloquial name ‘Yellow Car.’ This inspired Huntington’s founding of the Pacific Electric Railway, an interurban standard gauge. Pacific Electric Railway was colloquially called the ‘Red Car.’

In order to beat the competition, the Red Car featured passenger-friendly streetcars. Its cars run the streets 24/7, which was favorable at that time because at that time, the land development market was booming in Southern California. For instance, the residents of the houses built at Huntington Beach were serviced by the streetcars because the railroads could not serve them. The Red Car connected Downtown Los Angeles to the suburbs of the city.

Huntington’s trolley system extended over 1,300 miles in Southern California by 1910. At that time, the entire system contained more than 20 streetcar lines with about 1,250 trolleys that run through the core of Los Angeles and its surrounding neighborhoods.

In 1916, Huntington retired from business. He died on May 23, 1927 while undergoing surgery. Huntington’s legacy included the Huntington Library, Art Collections and Botanical Gardens, Huntington Beach, Huntington Park, Huntington Lake, Huntington Hospital, Henry E. Huntington Middle School, and Huntington Drive. In honor of Huntington, Adolfo Müller-Ury, a Swiss-born American artist, painted portraits of Huntington which are displayed at the Huntington Library until today.