Weddington Family

Weddington Family. . , , A Founding Family in a Fledgling Town , The cold winters and the hard work of Iowa farm life once drove hundreds of thousands of "Hawkeyes" to California. , One of them was named Wilson C. Weddington. He came here in 1890 to visit his sister, and he never left. What he did leave was a huge imprint on what would become North Hollywood. , Weddington liked the place so much he brought his wife, Mary, and his family here, and bought a number of acres. , The Civil War veteran soon had a chance to stand out in the sparsely populated settlement then called Lankershim/Toluca. Lankershim was the biggest name in the area, but Weddington made his presence known after President Grover Cleveland appointed him to the job of postmaster in 1893. It was a title Weddington held for 22 years. The post office was also his home, and when he bought a general store in 1894, he moved the post office there. The general store became a family enterprise; Wilson and Mary Weddington's sons, Guy and Fred, both worked in the store. , The family was such a fixture that when the Red Car trolley at last arrived in the Valley in 1911, it was the elder Weddington who was invited to help drive the ceremonial golden spike into the rail lines. , Multi-Tasking in a Growing Town , Fred Weddington also became a lawman, and in 1904 he earned a big headline. Two thieves had beaten up an elderly Frenchman. Weddington, a deputy sheriff at the time, saddled up his horse and tracked them to a barley field where they were hiding, arresting them. They later went to prison. , The burgeoning town needed more services like a bank, and again, the Weddingtons obliged. They opened the Bank of Lankershim in 1910, and Fred Weddington got off his horse and got behind a desk. In 1927, the year North Hollywood acquired its name, the bank became part of the Security Pacific chain, operating from the now-venerable brick building at the northwest corner of Lankershim Boulevard and Weddington Street. , Local Roots, Local Legacy , The other Weddington brother, Guy, married Marjorie Davis, whose family arrived here from England in 1895, and built the area's first tennis court. Guy Weddington also kept his hand in agriculture, running a major fruit canning operation, and heading Weddington Investment Company, a family partnership that exists to this day. It is now operated by Wilson Weddington's great-grandson, Guy Weddington McCreary. , When Wilson Weddington died in 1923, the business district closed for two hours in tribute. Guy Weddington died in 1941 and Fred Weddington died in 1967. Their 1904 family home still stands near Vineland Avenue. Their first home, the one that served as the post office, was on the site where the El Portal Theatre now stands.