Cyrus D. Willard (1830–1913) was a contractor and mason in 19th centuryLos Angeles, California. He also was a member of theLos Angeles Common Council and the Los Angeles County Grand Jury.[1][2]
Willard was born inSharon, Maine, on June 17, 1830. He went to school there and served anapprenticeship in Boston, Massachusetts.
Spurred by tales of theCalifornia Gold Rush, he came by sea to San Francisco, where he landed on his 20th birthday in 1850. He first went to the gold mines in theSierra Nevada, then theHumboldt Bay, where he didlumbering. He returned to San Francisco in 1861, where he was superintendent of construction with the Lighthouse Construction Department of theUnited States Lighthouse Service.
He moved to Los Angeles in 1876 and, besides his building enterprises, he invested inreal estate. Willard was active in theCalifornia National Guard, attaining the rank ofmajor.[3][4]
He was a member of theLos Angeles Common Council from 1885 to 1886, representing the city's 5thWard.
Willard and his partner, C.F. Collins, did the masonry work for significant buildings inDowntown Los Angeles, including: the Nadeau Building (1881); the Bullard Building, theBradbury Building; and theLos Angeles City Hall (1888) used from 1888–1928.[3]
From 1891 to 1897, he was secretary of theLos Angeles Chamber of Commerce, and from 1897 to 1900 he was general manager of theLos Angeles Evening Express.[5]
Willard was a member of the 1899 Los Angeles CountyGrand Jury,[6] and the year after completing his work there he suffered a "stroke of paralysis."[7]
He died in April 1913 at the age of 83.[3] Unmarried, he bequeathed shares of his estate to his business partner, James M. Wadsworth, and to various friends and relatives. He left $2,500 to the town library ofNew Sharon, Maine.[8]