Henry Wartenberg was a merchant and civic leader in Los Angeles, California, during the 19th century. He was the first president of the city's first volunteer fire department, in 1868–69, and a member of the Los Angeles Common Council, the governing body of the city, from 1868 to 1870.Chronological Record of Los Angeles City Officials,1850-1938, compiled under direction of Municipal Reference Library, City Hall, Los Angeles (March 1938, reprinted 1966). "Prepared ... as a report on Project No. SA 3123-5703-6077-8121-9900 conducted under the auspices of the Works Progress Administration."
On June 14, 1867, Wartenberg was proprietor of a shop in partnership with Wolf Kalisher, sited in a group of businesses called Bell's Row or Bell's Block, when a fire took hold and spread from building to building until the entire block was leveled.Donald H. Harrison, Western States Jewish History Two years later, a volunteer fire department—the city's first—finally took shape with Wartenberg as president. The organization was called the Thirty-Eights, the number of firemen that could be raised to fight a blaze.Bill Murphy, "1886 Firehouse Replica to Be Put in Plaza Park," Los Angeles Times, May 27, 1956, page B-1
The two partners also transformed an old barn on Alameda Street between Ducommun Street and First Street into a tanning house for curing animal hides.Harris Newmark, Sixty Years in Southern California, 1853–1913
In 1870, Wartenberg was the president of the Los Angeles Hebrew Benevolent Society,Jewish Genealogical Society of Los Angeles predecessor of today's Jewish Family Service of Los Angeles. He was a member of the Odd Fellows lodge.
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