November 26th in Seal Beach History

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8 responses to “November 26th in Seal Beach History”

1. December 30, 2017

   Top Five Posts Of 2017 | This Date in Seal Beach History

   […] #3 – November 26th in Seal Beach History […]

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2. 

   November 26, 2019

   Lonnie Brownell

   Where was the Seal Beach Trailer Park then? I see there’s one now, sort of, between Welcome Way and 1st street — same place? That’s terra incognita in my town memories.

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   1. 

      November 26, 2019

      Michael Dobkins

      It’s the same footprint as today’s more upscale trailer park except it also included townhouses on the north side of Marina Drive (then Bolsa Avenue) between the river and First Street. Here’s a 1947 aerial of the trailer park that’ll give you a better idea of what it looked like. For all we know, Ernestine Goetz was down there in her trailer the moment the plane passed overhead and the photographer snapped this shot.

      https://sbfoundersday.wordpress.com/2010/09/29/in-a-little-park-by-the-side-of-the-road

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      1. 

         November 26, 2019

         Lonnie Brownell

         Very nice! I looked in the tag cloud in the right margin but didn’t see “Trailer Park”, thanks for the link.

         I assume the dirt road that opens onto Bolsa/Marina is 1st street. I’m thinking it was that way — maybe — when I lived on 2nd street, too young to cross Marina on my own (and maybe a bit intimidated). Even later, I don’t remember ever walking/biking/driving on that stretch of road, even after the Oakwood Apartments were built (which now appears to be “Eaves”).

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         1. 

            November 26, 2019

            Michael Dobkins

            First street didn’t extend past Bolsa Ave./Marina Dr. until the late sixties/early seventies. It would be paved along the right edge of the photo. The current streets inside the trailer park don’t reflect the original layout of the trailer park.

            Something I’ve never noticed is that there appears to be a railroad spur along that same right edge. Perhaps it was used for Pacific Electric freight loading and unloading at the Dow Chemical Plant.

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            1. 

               November 26, 2019

               Lonnie Brownell

               Yeah, I can see now that 1st would be where you say, not that dirt road down the center of the park. But…DOW CHEMICAL PLANT!?!?! Around every corner, another mystery.

               I now work in a building that long-time residents of the area knew as the flower market, and even longer-time residents might have known as a Burroughs semiconductor factory. And if I didn’t work there, I wouldn’t know any of that. So I guess I shouldn’t be shocked that, unbeknownst to me, Dow Chemical used to make who-knows-what in our town.
            2. 

               November 28, 2019

               Lonnie Brownell

               Dow plant and the Oakwood Apartments: https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1985-12-05-me-462-story.html
               And a photo: https://digital.sciencehistory.org/works/fj2362492
      2. 

         July 4, 2025

         Kirt Maddox

         thank you for posting that pic. We moved there in early 1954 and I was born there in March of that year. We moved out in 1963. I have amazing memories from there.

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