Henry E. Huntington Library and Art Gallery
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| Founded | 1919 |
|---|---|
| Founder | Henry E. Huntington, Arabella Huntington |
| Type | Collections-based research and educational institution |
| Focus | Research, education |
| Location | |
| Coordinates | 34°07′38″N 118°06′36″W / 34.12722°N 118.11000°WCoordinates: 34°07′38″N 118°06′36″W / 34.12722°N 118.11000°W |
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Area served
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Southern California |
| Product | Botanical gardens |
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Key people
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Steve Hindle (Acting President) |
| Endowment | $411 million (as of June 30, 2013) |
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Employees
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478 |
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Volunteers
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1,200 |
| Website | huntington |
The Huntington Library, Art Collections and Botanical Gardens (or The Huntington) is a collections-based educational and research institution established by Henry E. Huntington (1850–1927) and located in Los Angeles County in San Marino, California, on the western coast of the United States, and about 35 miles northeast of the Pacific Ocean. In addition to the library, the institution houses an extensive art collection with a focus in 18th and 19th-century European art and 17th to mid-20th-century American art. The property also includes approximately 120 acres of specialized botanical landscaped gardens, most notably the "Japanese Garden", the "Desert Garden", and the "Chinese Garden" (Liu Fang Yuan).
As a landowner, businessman and visionary, Henry Edwards Huntington, (1850–1927), played a major role in the growth of southern California. Huntington was born in 1850, in Oneonta, New York, and was the nephew and heir of Collis P. Huntington, (1821–1900), one of the famous "Big Four" railroad tycoons of 19th century California history. In 1892, Huntington relocated to San Francisco with his first wife, Mary Alice Prentice, and their four children. He divorced Mary Alice Prentice in 1906, and in 1913, married his uncle's widow, Arabella Huntington, (1851–1924), relocating from the financial and political center of northern California, San Francisco, to the state's newer southern major metropolis, Los Angeles. He purchased a property of more than 500 acres that was then known as the "San Marino Ranch", and went on to purchase other large tracts of land in the Pasadena and Los Angeles areas of Los Angeles County for urban and suburban development. As president of the Pacific Electric Railway Company, the regional streetcar/public transit system for the Los Angeles metropolitan area and southern California and also of the Los Angeles Railway Company, (later the Southern California Railway), he spearheaded urban and regional transportation efforts to link together far-flung communities, supporting growth of those communities as well as promoting commerce, recreation, and tourism. He was one of the founders of the City of San Marino, incorporated in 1913.
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