Seeking photos

Can you name the couple pictured in this old photo?

Huntington Beach City Historian Jerry Person knows the answer to the question. But he needs the public’s help in finding images of at least four people who were among Surf City’s early leaders in the 20th century.

Person, a former columnist for the Independent who spent 12 years penning its “A Look Back” historical column, has compiled, archived and scanned nearly 3,000 historical photos and images into a database on the city’s website.

Now, he’s working on gathering and documenting a photographic gallery showing the faces of all the citizens who have held the office of mayor of Huntington Beach since its founding in 1904 and its incorporation in 1909, he said.

Person has almost everyone accounted for but he is missing photographs of four mayors: W.D. Seeley, who served as the second mayor from 1912 to 1914; W. W. Tarbox, the city’s fifth mayor from 1917 to 1918; Lawrence R. Ridenour, its 10th mayor from 1924 to 1926; and Elson G. Conrad, its 13th mayor from 1931 to 1934.

If you are related to one of these men or have any information that could help the city’s historian obtain photos of Seeley, Tarbox, Ridenour or Conrad, you should email Person at jperson@hb.quik.com, or call him at (714) 378-1243.

Answer to quiz:

The couple in the photo are Ed and Carrie Manning. Ed Manning, a plumber, was the city’s first mayor.

He and Carrie lived at a house at 701 Delaware St., near Adams Avenue and Beach Boulevard, where they raised three daughters — Pauline, Mildred and Nona — Person said.

According to the city’s online archives, this photograph was taken on their wedding day. Ed was 26 at the time and Carrie was 20, according to a copy of their marriage certificate that recorded their union at Azusa on May 8, 1898.

This document and historical photos can be viewed through the city’s online database by visiting https://www.huntingtonbeachca.gov, then clicking on “public records search” and doing a photo search under “index search.”

—Imran Vittachi

Twitter: @ImranVittachi