ABOUT US
Willmore City Heritage Association (WCHA) is a federally designated, 501(c)3
nonprofit corporation, founded in 1976, to improve, preserve, and promote
the first Long Beach designated historic district. WCHA is a well established
community organization that not only works toward historic preservation of
the Drake Park / Willmore City Historic District, but works hard to deal with
the social issues of an inner city neighborhood. WCHA is committed to the
preservation, protection, and improvement of the physical environment and
quality of life in the Drake Park/Willmore City neighborhood.
The past, present, and future come together in Long Beach's Drake Park/Willmore
City neighborhood, home to some of the Long Beach’s oldest houses and
most congenial people in the city. The historic district sits on land first
developed in the late 19th century by the early city pioneer William Willmore,
and contains the site of the original township of Willmore City.
Part of the area became a historic district—Long Beach's first—in
1978; since then the residents have been preserving and protecting it. The
entire neighborhood now enjoys the protection of historic designation and
a zoning ordinance tailored to the area. WCHA is a neighborhood organization
serving the approximate one square mile historic district and was established
to save the neighborhood from demolition for Downtown expansion and to obtain
historic designation for the district from the City of Long Beach. The Drake
Park/ Willmore City Historic District is also designated by the State of California
as a Certified Historic District. Not only is the neighborhood a designated
historic district, the Drake Park / Willmore area enjoys special zoning, Long
Beach Planned Development-10, which was written to encourage relocation of
historic homes into the historic district. Several homes relocated from the
World Trade Center development successfully found new locations in the Drake
Park / Willmore City historic district and other houses in the neighboring
West Gateway Redevelopment project area are also scheduled to be saved and
moved into the historic district.
WCHA has received many grants for the betterment of our neighborhood, including
a small pocket park, various mural projects including the repainting of a
vintage advertising sign, traffic street signs showing historic district designation,
and several safety initiatives (such as bicycle and pedestrian fairs). The
Drake Park/Willmore area is also a federally designated Neighborhood Improvement
Strategy Area and because of our residents’ civic involvement was one
of the most successful neighborhoods in the program and is often used by Long
Beach Community Development as a model for other NIS areas.
We deal with the issues common to urban residents today: land use, zoning,
keeping crime down, and creating a comfortable environment for people of varying
income levels and ethnicities.
Virtually everyone respects each other, helps each other, and works with neighbors
to create a clean, safe, attractive, and exciting multicultural neighborhood.
As California and Long Beach reach the point where there will be no majority
population, the people of Willmore City are leading the way to the future.
WHERE WE ARE
The Drake Park/Willmore City Historic District is located in Downtown Long
Beach, adjacent to the Pine Avenue Entertainment District. We are located
on the west side of Long Beach ( just off the 710 freeway). Our borders are:
the 710 freeway on the West; 4th St. on the South, Cedar St. on the East,
and Moro & 12th St. on the North. The Drake Park/Willmore City Historic
District boundaries are 4th Street on the south to Anaheim Street on the north,
Pacific Avenue on the east and the Los Angeles River on the west, in Long
Beach, CA.
Click here to view a map
of the area (courtesy of the Long Beach Web site).
Click here to view information about the Willmore
City/Drake Park area
(courtesy of the Long Beach Web site).