George Philip Hummel (November 14, 1887 – December 10, 1965) was an American business manager and investor. Hummel was the engineer for

Kern County, California Kern County is a county (United States), county located in the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census, the population was 909,235. Its county seat is Bakersfield, California, Bakersfield. Kern County comprise ...

, and has been cited as a county pioneer and a legendary figure in the

Antelope Valley The Antelope Valley is located in northern Los Angeles County, California, and the southeast portion of Kern County, California, and constitutes the western tip of the Mojave Desert. It is situated between the Tehachapi, Sierra Pelona, and the ...

Career

Hummel was born on November 14, 1887. He moved to

Rosamond, California Rosamond is a unincorporated community in Kern County, California, US, near the Los Angeles county line. Rosamond is part of Greater Los Angeles and is located in the Mojave Desert just north of Lancaster and Palmdale, two of the largest cities ...

, in 1939 and became the business manager of the Los Angeles Union Rescue Mission. A real estate investor and businessman, Hummel played a major role in the development of the water facilities in Rosamond in the 1930s, and established the Rosamond Water Company. He was also one of the men responsible for the building of the

Wayside Chapel The Wayside Chapel is a charity and parish mission of the Uniting Church in Australia in the Potts Point, New South Wales, Potts Point area of Sydney, Australia. Situated near Sydney's most prominent red-light district in Kings Cross, New South ...

, and was active in the running of local affairs, sitting on the board of the Rosamond Chamber of Commerce. In 1951, he sold his water company to Samuel L. Berg when it had just 125 customers; the Rosamond Community Services District now provides water, sewer, recreation and graffiti removal services to the town of nearly 20,000 residents, covering the second-largest community (after Ridgecrest) in east Kern County.

Later life and death

Following the sale to Berg, Hummel semi-retired from his real estate business, but remained active in local governance and commerce, serving as Director of the Antelope Valley Progress Association/Board of Trade and then vice president of the Lancaster Camp of

Gideons International Gideons International is an Evangelical Christian association for men founded in 1899 in Janesville, Wisconsin. The Gideons' primary activity, along with their wives in the Auxiliary, is "encouraging each other to do the work of the Lord, focusin ...

up until his death in 1965. His funeral was held on December 13, 1965, at the Mumaw Chapel in Lancaster with the Rev. Norman C. Nelson, of the Wayside Chapel officiating. He was buried in

Joshua Memorial Park Joshua Memorial Park and Mortuary is a cemetery and mortuary in Lancaster, California. It is a popular location for the burials of notable local figures of the Antelope Valley. Notable interments * Paul Baxley (1923–2011) – Actor * Raymond Hat ...

of Lancaster and was survived by his widow Della K. Hummel, and one son, Walter J. Hummel.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hummel, George 1887 births 1965 deaths American business executives Businesspeople from California American real estate businesspeople People from Kern County, California 20th-century American businesspeople