SIDEWALK SURPRISE
H. Henry Clarke, City Inspector

We know that Long Beach’s sidewalks contain impressed “signatures” of many construction companies and contractors who plied their trade here; and, a recent Sunday stroll in the Belmont Heights neighborhood revealed a surprise: our City inspectors sometimes added their names to cement projects as well!

photo: QHGS

The impression shown above shares the sidewalk with a contractor’s “signature.” Your QHGS Blogger wanted to find out who “H. H. Clarke” was; so, some sleuthing was done in the 1922 Long Beach City Directory which provided the following information: “H. Henry Clarke, an inspector for the City street department, lived at 1450½ Olive Street with his wife Sarah J. Clarke.”

RESEARCH TIP: Many directories contain lists of policemen, firemen, and various other city employees in their front pages. If your ancestor had a city job, be sure to check these pages to find his name again listed under the department heading where he worked.