Hunt Memorial Park
Murrieta’s first public park was Hunt Memorial Park located at the intersection of Juniper Street
and Adams Avenue in Historic Downtown Murrieta. The park was established in 1957 through a land donation by Mrs. Inez Hunt.
It was built and maintained through the years not by tax dollars, but through community volunteers and donations. Though it is a testament of community spirit, few realize that this is the only known park in Southwest Riverside County established in memory of a World War I solider.
Inez Marie Powelson was born September 3, 1872 in Saginaw Co., Michigan. She was the daughter of Wallace and Elizabeth (Brown) Powelson. On May 22, 1892, she married Jay Henry Russell. They had three children, but only one survived childhood, Millard F. Russell. He was born August 13, 1891 in Genesee County, Michigan.
The Russell family moved to California by 1900. Jay and Inez were divorced in 1906. On April 16, 1907, Inez married David L. Hunt and they lived in Los Angeles, California. They had no children.
Millard Russell, Inez’s only son, served in the U.S. Navy for four years, and then settled in San Diego, California. In 1917, he was a working at San Diego’s Fire Station 8. He was one of 25 San Diego firefighters that were either enlisted or drafted during WWI. He was a private in Company F, 8th US
Engineers. He served in WWI from May 25, 1917 to May 16, 1919.
After the war, Millard married Hazel A. Douglas in July 1919 in the San Diego home of Mr. and Mrs. David Hunt. The newlyweds may have had a son, Millard F. Russell, Jr. born 1917. It is unknown how the marriage ended, but in November 1923, Millard married Floy H. Downes. His second marriage ended in divorce and Millard moved to Los Angeles.
Millard’s health declined following the war. He checked into a veteran’s home in Sawtelle, Los Angeles Co., California on September 13, 1932. According to his records, he was infected with syphilis. Many
soldiers were infected by this disease during the war. Millard died a few months later on November 13, 1932 and was buried in the Los Angeles National Cemetery.
David and Inez Hunt moved to Huntington Beach, California in 1920 to care for Inez’s parents. Her father died June 5, 1920. Afterwards the Hunts established a homestead in the Santa Rosa Mountains
west of Murrieta. David Hunt’s homestead patent of 108.17 acres was approved on November 5, 1925. He sold his property to John F. Watson that same year.
The Hunts then purchased a single story Murrieta home from John Walter in 1926. John Walter built the house around 1922 from a kit purchased from a catalog. Once moved into their new home, David Hunt made a living as a carpenter in Murrieta and Inez became involved in several social clubs in the community.
Inez Hunt entertained the Murrieta Sewing Club in her home and participated in the Ladies Aid Society. She was treasurer of the PTA in 1928. She made pot holders as wedding gifts for Murrieta’s newlyweds. She also made pot holders to be sold as a fundraiser for the Elsinore American Legion Post.
David Hunt may have died in 1942 in Eureka, Humboldt Co., California. On June 12, 1956, Inez donated her land to the Murrieta Valley Town Hall Association (MVTHA) in memory of her son, Millard Russell. When Inez died on April 4, 1957, her home was transformed into Murrieta’s Town Hall. Relatives contested her donation in court, but in 1958, the judge ruled in favor of the MVTHA.
Hunt Memorial Park became the social center of Murrieta for the next forty years. Through a government block grant, a new 7,300 square-foot town hall was built next to the former Hunt House/Town Hall in 1981. In 2001, the City of Murrieta acquired the park and town hall. Plans were drawn up to develop the Hunt House into a museum in 2006, but with budget concerns, the museum project was shelved.
Then in March 2017, the Society met with City representatives at the Hunt House and began negotiations to convert the structure into the Murrieta History Museum. Several meetings, studies, and inspections began shortly afterwards. It is hoped that Murrieta will soon have its first museum.
Today there are fifty public parks and multiple recreational trails in the City of Murrieta. The origins of the park system and the city can be traced back to Hunt Memorial Park when Inez Hunt donated her
land for the children of Murrieta and the community. Yet her donation was in memory of her only son,
Millard F. Russell, a World War I veteran. It is fitting that Murrieta’s first public park was created in
honor of a soldier’s military service.
Opmerkingen