SIDEWALK SURPRISE
William Benton West, 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

William Benton “W. B.” West was listed in the 1922 and 1923 Long Beach city directories this way: “Wm B West (Faith Jones) st insp City h 1718 Linden.” William was born in Iowa. He married Abby Faith in Humbolt, Iowa, in 1903, and he died in 1935 in Upland, California. He was enumerated in the 1920 U. S. Census while living in Long Beach with Faith and his children. Find A Grave lists him among those interred in Union Cemetery, Humbolt, Iowa.

RESEARCH TIP: The geni.com website may help you locate relatives who are not listed on larger genealogy sites. A useful, short tree for W. B. West was posted there, and, using it, your Blogger was able to find corroborating information about him.