Etta Belle Lloyd (1860 – January 6, 1929) was one of the most prominent and influential figures in the civic life of

Pacific Grove, California Pacific Grove is a coastal city in Monterey County, California, in the United States. The population at the 2020 census was 15,090. Pacific Grove is located between Point Pinos and Monterey. Pacific Grove has numerous Victorian-era houses, so ...

Early life

Etta Belle Lloyd was born in Utica, New York, in 1860, the daughter of David W. Lloyd (1831-1891), a merchant and hotel owner, and Elizabeth F. Roberts (d. 1902). She moved to California with the family when she was six months old and they were pioneers of the Monterey County. They moved to

, in 1887 where Davide Lloyd was the first permanent resident and merchant. She attended the State Normal School at

San Jose, California San Jose, officially San José (; ; ), is a major city in the U.S. state of California that is the cultural, financial, and political center of Silicon Valley and largest city in Northern California by both population and area. With a 2020 popul ...

, where she met fellow student

Emily Williams Emily Williams (born 8 October 1984) is a New Zealand singer, songwriter and actress. She rose to fame in 2005 on the third season of ''Australian Idol'' and became the runner-up of the competition. After ''Idol'', Williams signed with Sony B ...

, long-lasting friend, and taught school at

Salinas, California Salinas (; Spanish for "Salt Marsh or Salt Flats") is a city in California and the county seat of Monterey County. With a population of 163,542 in the 2020 Census, Salinas is the most populous city in Monterey County. Salinas is an urban area lo ...

Career

She was one of the most prominent and influential figures in the civic life of the city: she supported the movement to keep the theaters closed on Sunday and worked for the new street paving for Lighthouse and Central avenue. She was a member of the official board of the Methodist Episcopal church. She organized the Pacific Grove Musical Society, was one of founding members of the Pacific Grove Woman's Civic Club and was secretary and director of the city museum. Since 1891 she was a member of the Rebekahs. She was state president of the

Chautauqua Chautauqua ( ) was an adult education and social movement in the United States, highly popular in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Chautauqua assemblies expanded and spread throughout rural America until the mid-1920s. The Chautauqua bro ...

alumni. She was a public speaker and wrote many articles for the press. She was an assistant to her father in carrying on his business at Pacific Grove and after his death she managed the Lloyd estate.

Personal life

She was a benefactor of architect Emily Williams, to whom she gave two public commissions in Pacific Grove. The first, in 1907, was from the Woman's Civic Club to design a public "Look-Out" on a rocky promontory in the Pacific Ocean called Lovers Point. In early 1908, she lent $300 to Williams to allow her to buy a property at 218 and 220 Chestnut, Pacific Grove, where Williams built two houses, for her and her partner, Lillian McNeill Palmer. The property originally was owned by

Lucy Washburn Lucy M. Washburn (April 23, 1848 – September 26, 1939) was a high school education pioneer in the San Francisco Bay Area and one of the founders of the San Jose State Normal School. Early life Lucy Washburn was born on April 23, 1848, in Fred ...

, a teacher at the San Jose Normal School that both Lloyd and Palmer had attended; later in 1910 Washburn later moved to a house at 215 Alder. The second commission from Lloyd to Williams, in 1910, was to remodel two large wooden cabins into an attractive club house for the Woman's Civic Club. Lloyd leased a building from the Natural History Museum at 172 Grand Avenue and other two building were donated by the Pacific Improvement Company. At the opening ceremony it was said that Lloyd and Williams "had presented ..with two shells and ..they have converted them into a beautiful home for themselves." Etta Belle Lloyd died on January 6, 1929, at Pacific Grove, and is buried at El Carmelo Cemetery.

External links

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lloyd, Etta Belle 1860 births 1929 deaths