C.Z. Culver House
Charles Z. Culver worked to accomplish the incorporation of the City of Orange and served on the first city council. When he built the Palmyra Hotel in 1887, he had his residence, a simplified Queen Anne Victorian style house with 13 rooms and approximately 2,400 square feet, built nearby. Culver was an expert in the raisin grape industry and active in Southern California real estate. The hotel, a large Victorian-style “Boom Hotel,” was the culmination of his dream. His successes were short-lived, however, and he disappeared by 1890. The house is the last remaining piece of physical evidence connected with Culver, the Palmyra Hotel and the real estate boom of the 1880s. It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Orange, Orange County
Images by Andrew Schmidt