The Newmark family of Southern California engaged in commerce, land ownership and land development in

Los Angeles County, California Los Angeles County, officially the County of Los Angeles, and sometimes abbreviated as L.A. County, is the List of the most populous counties in the United States, most populous county in the United States and in the U.S. state of California, ...

, during the 19th Century. Family members included: *

Joseph Newmark Joseph Newmark (1799–1881) was a Prussian-American businessman in New York City and Los Angeles and a member of the Newmark family of Southern California. He helped found Jewish congregations in both cities and later became an ordained rabbi. A ...

(1799–1881), who was born in Neumark,

West Prussia The Province of West Prussia (german: Provinz Westpreußen; csb, Zôpadné Prësë; pl, Prusy Zachodnie) was a province of Prussia from 1773 to 1829 and 1878 to 1920. West Prussia was established as a province of the Kingdom of Prussia in 177 ...

. He moved to New York in 1823 and there helped found B'nai Jeshurun. He lived in

St. Louis, Missouri St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi River, Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the Greater St. Louis, ...

, from 1840 to 1845 and was president of a temple there. He, his wife, Rosa, and six children moved to Los Angeles, California in 1854, where, as a certified '' shochet'', he conducted religious services, weddings and funerals for the Jewish community until they could obtain a professional

rabbi A rabbi () is a spiritual leader or religious teacher in Judaism. One becomes a rabbi by being ordained by another rabbi – known as ''semikha'' – following a course of study of Jewish history and texts such as the Talmud. The basic form of ...

. In 1855 he founded the Hebrew Benefit Society, and in 1862 was the founding president of Congregation B'nai B'rith (today's

Wilshire Boulevard Temple Wilshire Boulevard Temple, known from 1862 to 1933 as Congregation B'nai B'rith, is the oldest Jewish congregation in Los Angeles, California. Wilshire Boulevard Temple's main building, with a sanctuary topped by a large Byzantine revival dome an ...

). He was an officer of Los Angeles' first

Masonic lodge A Masonic lodge, often termed a private lodge or constituent lodge, is the basic organisational unit of Freemasonry. It is also commonly used as a term for a building in which such a unit meets. Every new lodge must be warranted or chartered ...

.Jewish Virtual Library, citing ''Encyclopaedia Judaica,'' 2008
/ref> *

Harris Newmark Harris Newmark (July 5, 1834 – 1916) was a Jewish American businessman, philanthropist, and historian who was born in the West Prussian city of Löbau (now Lubawa, Poland). Newmark immigrated to the United States in 1853. He sailed from Europe t ...

(1834–1916), Joseph's nephew, who arrived in Los Angeles in 1853 and opened several enterprises, including a

wholesale Wholesaling or distributing is the sale of goods or merchandise to retailers; to industrial, commercial, institutional or other professional business users; or to other wholesalers (wholesale businesses) and related subordinated services. In ...

grocery, a

winery A winery is a building or property that produces wine, or a business involved in the production of wine, such as a wine company. Some wine companies own many wineries. Besides wine making equipment, larger wineries may also feature warehouses, ...

and a

distillery Distillation, or classical distillation, is the process of separating the components or substances from a liquid mixture by using selective boiling and condensation, usually inside an apparatus known as a still. Dry distillation is the heati ...

. He was a member of the committee that brought the

Southern Pacific The Southern Pacific (or Espee from the railroad initials- SP) was an American Class I railroad network that existed from 1865 to 1996 and operated largely in the Western United States. The system was operated by various companies under the ...

to Los Angeles and was an organizer of the Agriculture Society of the Sixth District, the

Public Library A public library is a library that is accessible by the general public and is usually funded from public sources, such as taxes. It is operated by librarians and library paraprofessionals, who are also Civil service, civil servants. There are ...

and the

Chamber of Commerce A chamber of commerce, or board of trade, is a form of business network. For example, a local organization of businesses whose goal is to further the interests of businesses. Business owners in towns and cities form these local societies to ad ...

. In his

real-estate Real estate is property consisting of land and the buildings on it, along with its natural resources such as crops, minerals or water; immovable property of this nature; an interest vested in this (also) an item of real property, (more general ...

activities he was the owner of

Rancho Santa Anita Rancho Santa Anita was a land grant in present-day Los Angeles County, California given to naturalized Scottish immigrant Hugo Reid and his Kizh people wife. Reid built an adobe residence there in 1839, and the land grant was formally recognized ...

and one of the developers of

Montebello, California Montebello (Italian for "Beautiful Mountain") is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States, located just east of East Los Angeles and southwest of San Gabriel Valley. It is an independent city. east of downtown Los Angeles. It is ...

. He was the author of ''Sixty Years in Southern California, 1853–1913.'' * Joseph P. Newmark, brother to Harris and nephew of the elder Joseph was born in

Löbau Löbau (Upper Sorbian: Lubij) is a city in the east of Saxony, Germany, in the traditional region of Upper Lusatia. It is situated between the slopes of the Löbauer Berg and the fertile hilly area of the Upper Lusatian Mountains. It is the gatew ...

, West Prussia in 1827. He came to America in 1848, traveled to Kentucky, back to New York, and 1852 to Los Angeles, where he opened a clothing store with Jacob Rich. He then invited his brother Harris to come from Prussia to join the business, forming a wholesale-retail dry goods store called Newmark, Kremer & Co. with him plus their uncle Joseph, and Maurice Kremer. Joseph P. Newmark left the partnership shortly thereafter and moved to San Francisco, where he became a merchandise broker. He retired in 1888 and then returned to Los Angeles. * Myer J. Newmark (1838–1911) was the youngest

city attorney A city attorney is a position in city and municipal government in the United States. The city attorney is the attorney representing the municipality. Unlike a district attorney or public defender, who usually handles criminal cases, a city at ...

in the history of Los Angeles, California, and was active in the affairs of that city in the 19th and early 20th centuries. * Samuel Newmark, founder and first president of the Hillcrest Country Club.

References

{{Reflist Newmark family Families from California People from West Prussia Businesspeople from Los Angeles History of Los Angeles German emigrants to the United States