Los Angeles County
Biographies
CHRISTIAN J. KUBACH
KUBACH, C. J., Contractor, Los Angeles, California, was born in Germany in 1855. He received his education in the public schools of that country, where he remained until eighteen years of age. As a boy he learned the contracting business from his father who was a master builder in a small town, located near Heidelberg, Germany. He continued with his father until 1873, when a desire to see more of the world caused him to move to America.
He went to Pittsburg, Pa., where an uncle was living, and there entered school for one year, learning the English language. He then returned to contracting work for a year and a half in Pittsburg.
In 1875 he moved to San Francisco and obtained a position with a company known as Herrman and Von Bostle, builders. He remained in their employ for one year, when he moved to Virginia City Nevada. There he started in as a millwright in the mining district. He followed that business for fifteen months, when he moved to Los Angeles in 1878. When Mr. Kubach arrived in Southern California there was little to denote the future city of 350,000 population, and the opening of a business in that day meant a long and hard struggle. He originally opened a small shop on East First street, but in 1884 he opened a larger one at First and Vine streets; by that time he was taking part in the construction of many of the largest buildings put up in Los Angeles in those days.
In 1885, shortly after Mr. Kubach had opened his business career in Los Angeles, he married in that city a young lady from a prominent family. There are two children, as a result of this union, Rose Cecilia and Sophie Octavia Kubach.
He built the noted Stimson residence, one of the most beautiful homes of Los Angeles at the time of its construction. He made the acquaintance then of Mr. Stimson, for whom he erected a number of buildings, including the foundation of the present Stimson block, in which building he established his offices.
A Pioneer contractor of Los Angeles, he developed his business as the city progressed. He has taken contracts for many of the largest buildings in Los Angeles. In the surrounding towns he also has been active, having constructed blocks in San Diego, Riverside, Redlands and many other places.
On March 7, 1903, Mr. Kubach organized the C. J. Kubach Company, the present firm, of which he is president. His nephew, Mr. George Schneider, is his able assistant, secretary, treasurer and superintendent, having in his care a large part of the business end of that organization. Before the above date the firm was known as C. J. Kubach.
In 1904 he moved his offices to the Pacific Electric building, where he has been located since. His business kept pace with the great growth of the city, and as the concrete and steel structures became an assured success, Mr. Kubach became one of the efficient contractors in that line. He built the magnificent Alexandria Hotel Annex, one of the finest examples of a modern hostelry in the West. He has erected numerous buildings for the Los Angeles Railway Company, built the First National Bank building of Riverside and a number of buildings at Del Mar, San Diego County. He also constructed the Wright & Callender building and the Christian Science Church building of Los Angeles.
During his years of work as a contractor in Los Angeles, Mr. Kubach has constructed buildings the total value of which reach the enormous sum of $8,000,000. Had he been a man of ordinary ability, he would have been satisfied with Los Angeles and its environs as a field for his labors. But today, in looking over the work that has been accomplished by him during the thirty years spent in Southern California, buildings of the highest type of workmanship are found throughout that region as far north as the Tehachapi Pass and as far south as San Diego, which will stand for many years as monuments of his constructive ability. He has built blocks in such progressive cities as Riverside, Redlands, Santa Barbara, Pasadena and many of the beautiful centers that are typical of Southern California.
In 1904, on the organization of the K. and K. Brick Company, because of his exceptional record as a contractor and because of his prominence in the field of building and construction, Mr. Kubach was made president of that corporation. He became one of the organizers of that company and since 1904 has had its management and chief business affairs entirely in his hands. The growth of this corporation from a small organization to one of the largest brick concerns in Southern California, with a capitalization of $120,000, was due largely to the excellent management of Mr. Kubach. He was one of the organizers of the Rice Ranch Oil Company and its present president.
Mr. Kubach is a member of the Masonic Fraternity and of the Jonathan Club of Los Angeles.
Transcribed
by Joyce Rugeroni.
Source: Press
Reference Library, Western Edition Notables of the West, Vol. I, Page 427,
International News Service, New York, Chicago, San Francisco, Los Angeles,
Boston, Atlanta. 1913.
© 2010 Joyce
Rugeroni.
GOLDEN NUGGET'S LOS ANGELES
BIOGRAPIES