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Tag: 1926

  • August 22nd in Seal Beach History

    On this date in 1926, the 7:15 p.m. Pacific Electric red car west bound on the Seal Beach to Long Beach line made an unexpected detour at First Street and Ocean Avenue. 

    Normally, the red car would continue across the Ocean Avenue bridge to the Long Beach Peninsula. This time it took an unexpected turn on the sharply curved spur tracks into the Los Angeles Gas and Electric Corporation steam plant property. It crashed through the gates, but the motorman was able to slow the car enough to avoid derailment, and the only injury was his bruised elbow.

    This March 11, 1933 photo shows the spur tracks into the steam plant property in the asphalt at lower left bottom. (You can also see damage to the steam plant from the Long Beach earthquake.)
    This March 11, 1933 photo shows the spur tracks into the steam plant property in the asphalt in the bottom left half of the photo. You can also see damage from the Long Beach earthquake.

    Philip A. Stanton, founder of Seal Beach, witnessed the incident from the front porch of his home on the corner of that intersection. He had actually seen a man with a young boy turn the switch immediately in front of his house a few minutes earlier, but Stanton had assumed the man was a Pacific Electric employee.

    1933-1940s DWP copy copy
    A better view of the Stanton house from where he saw the incident. The switch in front of the house appears to have been removed. This photo was taken after the taller steam plant stack was replaced with this shorter one due to the 1933 earthquake damage.

    The Pacific Electric abandoned this line in February of 1940, the bridge to the Long Beach peninsula was removed in 1955, and the steam plant was torn down in 1967. The Pacific Electric tracks of the spur leading into the power plant property still remained well into the seventies — decades past when the last red car rode down Ocean Avenue.

    Addendum – There seems to be more little curiosity about the steam plant in response to today’s post. You can find links to earlier posts and photos (including footage and photos from the demolition from Joyce Kucera) here.

    – Michael Dobkins

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  • May 27th in Seal Beach History

    On this date in 1926, the Santa Ana Register published this gushingly enthusiastic profile of Seal Beach with a photo spread.

    In my Seal Beach research over the years, I’ve come across some wild feats of hyperbole, but I think the first three paragraphs in this article have all other beat.

    In spite of its manic lack of restraint, this article provides a solid snapshot of what Seal Beach was in 1926 and what it was trying to present itself as to the world. (This does not include the whopper about the single drowning or the claims of safety. Whoof, such mendacity!)

    So I’m going to quote the entire article and include the photos with commentary after the article.

    SEAL BEACH’S NO UNDERTOW CLAIM BRINGS MANY VISITORS

    ———————–

    Safety Factor Is Stressed By Residents of Town; Commerce Body Active

    ———————–

    BIG POWER PLANT TO BE ENLARGED

    ———————–

    Vehicular Bridge Across Outer Channel of Bay Backed by Community

    ———————–

    When Mother Nature chiseled the coast line of what was destined to Southern California, she gave particular attention to one favored spot, saying: “Here I will create a beach that will provide safe bathing for mankind, especially the women and little children.”

    With this end in view, she formed two Inland bays with entrances from the Pacific ocean nearly a mile apart, and between these she made a gradually sloping sandy beach free from dangerous riptides and strong undertow.

    Neither time nor tides have changed this condition, and since the early days of civilization in Southern California, what is now known as the city of Seal Beach has been recognized as one beach where surf bathing is safe.

    Surf Bathing Safe.

    The greatest degree of safety in the surf is between two bays, Anaheim and Alamitos. Although thousands go into the surf there every season, so far as known there has been but one drowning, and that near the Alamitos bay channel, when a man who could not swim attempted to negotiate the breakers on a hastily constructed raft.

    The safe condition of safety exists in Anaheim bay inside the bridge, but bathers are warned to keep away from the outer channel with its deep water and treacherous currents.

    For these reasons, many inland people spend their summer vacations at Seal Beach and Anaheim Landing, which is a part of the city, and it is believed the greatest number of summer visitors will be accommodated this year, because there are many cottages and tents available for summer use.

    Arrange Housing Facilities

    The chamber of commerce has taken up the matter of providing housing facilities for summer visitors and complete details may be had by writing to Harry H. Newton, the secretary.

    Besides safe bathing, Seal Beach offers many other attractions, such as boating on the bay, excellent fishing and various amusements, one of these being a large dancing pavilion. There is also a roller coaster and other concessions in the amusement zone.

    Seal Beach derives its name from the large herds of seal that have made their home here since the memory of man. They can be seen at the mouth of Alamitos bay, near the big power plant, in their natural habitat, being an attraction for tourists from all over the world. Plans are forming for a seal park, this being a part of the scheme for a vehicular bridge across the outer cannel of Alamitos bay.

    History of Town

    In 1903 P. A. Stanton and I. A. Lothian purchased 200 acres of land on the ocean front between Anaheim and Alamitos bays. The land was platted and the new town given the name of Bay City. In 1915, It was incorporated as a city of the sixth class under the name of Seal Beach, in honor of the large herd of seals.

    Seal Beach has a municipal water system, sewers, electricity, gas and many miles of permanently paved streets.

    Although the incorporated limits of Seal Beach include approximately 800 acres, only 200 acres are in the platted portion, the balance being a part of the Hellman ranch. This ranch land will not be available for homesites until after the question of oil is determined. Drilling operations are being conducted on the property by the Associated Oil company, but so far without any favorable showings. Executors of the Hellman estate say if prospecting operations prove the land is barren of oil in paying quantities, they will subdivide the portion in Seal Beach and put it on the market for homesites. The Hellman hill is declared to be one of the most desirable places in Southern California for this purpose.

    Seal Beach is located on the South Coast highway. Within 15-mile radius of Seal Beach, there are 25 towns that, with intervening territory, have a combined population of more than a quarter of a million people.

    Bridge Project

    A project is under way for building a vehicular bridge across the outer channel of Alamitos bay that will connect Ocean boulevard in Long Beach with Ocean avenue in Seal Beach. Preliminary plans for the structure will soon be completed.

    Will Enlarge Plant

    On the point overlooking the entrance to Alamitos bay is located the Seal Beach electric generating station of the Los Angeles Gas and Electric corporation. The first unit of the plant was placed in operation last July. When completed the plant will consist of three units of 48,000 horsepower each and the total cost will be approximately $15,000,000. The second unit will be started next year.

    The three boilers of the first unit have a capacity of 175,000 pounds of steam each, and the giant smokestack stands 275 feet high, a landmark seen from many miles distant.

    Electric energy is generated here and distributed in Los Angeles over a high-power transmission line.

    Chamber Is Active

    Seal Beach has an active chamber of commerce, of which W. D. Miller, president of the California State bank, is president, and Harry H. Newton, secretary. The organization has accomplished much in the way of civic development and is taking a leading part in the project of a vehicular bridge across the Alamitos bay channel.

    Mrs. E. W. Reed is president of the Woman’s Improvement club and Mrs. Merle Armstrong is secretary. There is a Business Men’s club, of which A. W. Armstrong is president and Harry H. Newton, secretary.

    Seal Beach Is proud of its public school system. It has a fine group of buildings with a competent corps of teachers. The district at present has only a grammar school, being affiliated with the Huntington Beach high school district.

    Two churches, Methodist and Catholic, provide places of worship, and there is a growing Masonic lodge.

    R. E. Dolley is president of the board of trustees. Other members of the board are J. P. Transue, A. E. Walker,  J. R. John and C. O. Wheat. Mrs. Ollie B. Padrick is city clerk and Ira E. Patterson is treasurer.

    Altogether, Seal Beach offers unusual attractions for either the home seeker or the vacationist.

    Here are enlarged versions of the photos from the Santa Ana Register spread.

    – Michael Dobkins

    Have you enjoyed this and other This Date in Seal Beach History posts?

    If so, please consider making a small donation of a dollar or more to help defray the online subscriptions and other research costs that make this blog possible.

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  • April 5th in Seal Beach History

    On this date in 1958, the first Miss Seal Beach was crowned.

    Nitpickers could argue that she was not the first Miss Seal Beach, and technically there’s some truth to that.

    On June 5, 1924, a grunion festival featuring open air dancing on Seal Way to a 45-piece band, bon fires and marshmallows, and a grunion hunt, was held. Also listed for the grunion festival was an event billed as a wedding ceremony of Miss Seal Beach and Mr. Long Beach. No other details were given, but I assume the marriage was purely symbolic civic boosterism.

    In 1926, twelve year old Norma Barraclough of 148 Seventh Street portrayed “Miss Seal Beach” as part of an elaborate celebration of the opening of the state highway from Huntington Beach to Laguna Beach. Starting in Long Beach, a “Miss Long Beach” boarded a boat on motorized wheels that journeyed down the coast to Laguna, stopping at each city along the highway to pick up a young girl, ages ranging from eight to twelve, representing that locale. (Coletta Dean portrayed “Miss Sunset Beach.”)

    In 1930, an unnamed “Miss Seal Beach” garnered at least 18,300 votes in a county-wide popularity contest to decide who would be queen at the American Legion celebration in Brea on Labor Day, but Lucille Brawley of Brea was crowned queen with 55,300 votes.

    It’s worth mentioning those previous Miss Seal Beaches of yesteryear in passing, but the one true first Miss Seal Beach, a local girl chosen in a local contest to represent the city for a year, was crowned in 1958 on April 5th.

    I’ll share that first Miss Seal Beach’s name in a bit, but first let’s cover some details of the build-up to her crowning. It’s also important to note that in 1958, there wasn’t even a hint that Miss Seal Beach would become an annual tradition with some breaks in between) that continues to this very day. It’s doubtful that the event would have continued if she hadn’t fulfilled the role so well.

    On March 21, 1958, the Long Beach Independent reported that an event billed as a “Glamourama” was to open the Seal Beach season that year. B.C. (Jimmy) Phelan, chairman of the event shared that the program would include a boat parade, a dance, and an art exhibit. The highlight of the event would be a contest in which a “Seal Beach Beauty Queen” would be selected. The winner would received a sportswear wardrobe, a trophy, and a modeling course. Two runner-ups would also receive trophies.

    Two days later, the Sunday Los Angeles Times ran a photo of eight contestants and shared more details about the event.

    It named the ten contestants vying for the title of Miss Seal Beach of 1958: Mary Jo McKee (16), Sharon Pearsall (16), Rozalind Madick (16), Chantal Moschella (19), Barbara Calkins (19), Madeline Keller (19), Sally Harper (16), Bonnie Sharp (16), Christie Sexton (17), and Vickie Larrain (16).

    The ten contestants were paraded on trailer-mounted boats “through the principal streets of Seal Beach” at 12:30 p.m., and the contest would be held at the entrance to the Seal Beach pier at 2 p.m. Mayor Paul Calvo would welcome the contestants, and Harvey Wagner would act as MC for the entertainment and also perform as a singer.

    The judges were Oscar Meinhardt, executive producer of the Long Beach Miss Universe contest, Mrs. Carlin Drake, Miss United States of 1955 under her maiden name of Carlin King Johnson, Dr. Lois J. Swanson, Associate Dean of Students at Long Beach State College, and Assemblyman Richard Hanna of Westminster.

    The article also listed the Seal Beach Chamber of Commerce’s committee for the event: Jim Phelan, Beverly Cole, Frank Finch, Harry Rose, and Ben Jones.

    So who was the first Miss Seal Beach? Meet Christie Sexton.

    Ms. Sexton shared the following personal account with me in an 2015 e-mail:

    It was a big deal at the time; with parade down Main St., etc.. As a side note, I happened to win the contest, much to my surprise, and it really helped form who I became as an adult; giving me much more confidence, etc. I went on to model for a short time, thanks to one of the prizes being a modeling course at Elda Berry Modeling School in Long Beach, and the Miss Orange County Fair contest, 1958. I did not win that contest (won by Miss Brea).

    My interests were mainly on swimming and tanning with the gang at our 10th Street beach hangout and my part-time job at the café at end of the pier…The pageant frowned on getting tan, and it was difficult to drag me away from the beach for photo shoots, promotional events, etc.

    One highlight of that year was representing Seal Beach on the Dude Martin TV show. My escort was Alan Harbour. We had to both leave our respective girl/boyfriends, and travel in, I believe, Alan’s Corvette, to Hollywood. We had a great dinner after the show at Diamond Jim’s on Hollywood Blvd. Both Doug Buell (my boyfriend) and Pauline DeSadeleer were not too happy about Alan and me spending the day in Hollywood without them. LOL.

    After the year as reigning queen, I was happy to give up my crown at the 1959 pageant held at McGaugh Elementary School to a beautiful girl named Vickie.

    I did not pursue modeling or the “phoniness” of pageants and went on to have a rewarding career in the executive secretarial and marketing/sales fields, in addition to raising two daughters. After over 50 years of working I finally retired this past January from Pima Community College in Tucson, AZ. I have fond memories of my Seal Beach days and I guess, in my heart, I will always be a Seal Beacher!

    Thanks for listening!

    Christie Sexton
    Miss Seal Beach 1958

    Ms. Sexton later clarified that Alan Harbour was a city employee at the time, and the city had requested that he accompany her to the Dude Martin show.

    She was also kind enough to share a clipping from the April 6, 1958 Long Beach Independent that showed her holding the very first Miss Seal Beach trophy (it was made of brass!) and a photo of her crowning the second Miss Seal Beach, Vickie Larrain, in 1959. (It’s an oddity that the only two contestants missing from the Los Angeles Times photo in 1958 went on to become the first two Miss Seal Beaches.)

    On a personal note, I’d like to thank Ms. Sexton for her generosity in sharing her memories of the event and her years as Miss Seal Beach. I had wanted to cover this event back in 2015 for the centennial, but I couldn’t find any clear images in the newspaper archives.

    It’s been four years and Ms. Sexton has been very patient, but with her images and the one I found from the Los Angeles Times, Christie Sexton’s Date with Seal Beach History can finally be shared.

    – Michael Dobkins

    Have you enjoyed this and other This Date in Seal Beach History posts?

    If so, please consider making a small donation of a dollar or more to help defray the online subscriptions and other research costs that make this blog possible.

    Donations can be made securely with most major credit cards directly through PayPal. Just click on paypal.me/MichaelDobkins to go to PayPal. Thank you.

    This Date in Seal Beach History also has an online store hosted at Cafepress where you can order shirts, tote bags, stationery, and other gift items imprinted with vintage Seal Beach images. Visit the online store by clicking here.