Just another WordPress site

Tag: Pacific Electric

  • March 22nd in Seal Beach History

    On this date in 1914, hundreds of people embarked on a Sunday excursion from San Bernardino to Seal Beach sponsored by the Guy M. Rush Company as represented by Edwin R. Post. If the San Bernardino Country Sun’s estimate is to be trusted, there were “over 125 people from San Bernardino, nearly as many from Redlands and nearly 225 from Riverside.”

    The sale of real estate is indelibly entwined in almost all aspects of Seal Beach history and this excursion, the first of two in the early part of 1914, was no different. In publicizing the excursion, Seal Beach was described as “growing rapidly and is one of the great attractions in the Long Beach district” and also as “one of the last close-in beaches of a desirable character.” Folks who were “interested in securing this class of property” were “were invited to see it and get first hand information as to its beauties and advantages.”

    The promotional copy style seems stilted today, but the sales concept is familiar to anyone who has ever sat through a timeshare sales presentation for a “free” dinner or chance to win a big screen television.

    The marketing plan was to entice potential buyers to Seal Beach with its new bathhouse and pavilions with promises of food and fun, but once they were stuck in town for the day, there were real estate salesmen close by, each ready with a hard sell pitch and a contract.

    For a mere dollar, excursionists would leave the Salt Lake station in San Bernardino at 8 am and ride to Riverside and then on to Long Beach. They would then take a Pacific Electric car for short ride a few miles east to Seal Beach. Waiting in Seal Beach was a free bathing suit for a dip in the ocean, a free lunch, and a free band concert, and you can bet that at every point where something free was given, somebody would be there to give a speech, make a pitch, or point out the available lots.

    (If you’re tempted by all this to feel a nostalgia for a simpler and more innocent times, take note of the the odious words, “Rigid race restrictions” openly listed as one of Seal Beach’s selling points in the last ad in this post. Nostalgia is a harsh mistress.)

    This excursion was just a few months after Bay City had been renamed Seal Beach and a year and a half before the city was officially incorporated by election in 1915. The roller coaster and the rest of the amusement zone attractions wouldn’t be built until 1916. Most of the features and landmarks that stood out from this era of Seal Beach’s past don’t exist yet.

    Still, to someone from San Bernardino and its typical inland high temperatures, just standing on the edge of the Pacific Ocean and feeling a cool sea breeze brush across your face must have been a treat.

    – 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.

  • March 21st in Seal Beach History

    On this date in 1944, The U.S. Navy formally established an ordnance depot at Anaheim Landing.

    The Orange County war housing commission chairman, Philip Norton (who also had a real estate office at 710 Ocean Ave), announced the seizure of thirty-five thousand acres of beach and tidelands in January of 1944 for the construction of the twenty million dollar ordnance depot. Real estate would be purchased, bridges would be demolished, Anaheim Bay would be dredged to a depth of fifteen feet, and the Pacific Electric line that crossed Anaheim Bay into Surfside would be rerouted.

    The decision meant approximately 2,000 people living in Anaheim Landing would need to vacate by March 21st. The housing commission helped residents relocate, and many Anaheim Landing homes were moved to lots in Westminster and Seal Beach. The popular Glide ‘Er Inn would move a few blocks east to 14th Street. The Seal Beach Airport would be permanently abandoned.

    The speed and urgency applied to the project is understandable considering that the United States military was engaged in a worldwide conflict. Today the outcome of World War II seems inevitable, but in 1944 the future was uncertain, and wartime efforts required full commitment. For most of 1944, the Navy would be transforming what had been a casual small boat harbor into an efficient first class naval installation.

    And Anaheim Landing’s time as a civilian port and recreational attraction came to an ended. The seventy-five year history of what is now known as the Seal Beach Weapons Station was just beginning.

    – 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.

  • March 14th in Seal Beach History

    On this date, the Los Angeles Times ran a story on eighteen year old John L. Scott and the baby seal he adopted.

    Earlier in March, John had been working in his hot dog stand when he noticed a shimmering shape in the surf. Assuming it was a fish, John, apparently an intrepid soul, charged into the surf to capture it. When he swam closer and heard plaintive bleats, John realized he was not tracking a fish, but was after a baby seal. He took the baby seal home and began nursing it by feeding it milk every two to three hours. John’s theory was that Pat’s mother had been shot by fishermen.

    In the days that followed, “Pat” as John named him, would follow and play with his rescuer both on land and in the sea. Their antics attracted local attention and word-of-mouth publicity, and the Santa Ana Register sent a reporter to cover the the unlikely pair on March 5th. That story mentioned that Pat and John would swim together three times a day off Dolphin Avenue between 9 and 10 am, again between 1 and 3 pm, and finally between 4 and 5 pm before retiring to John’s home for the night.

    Not to be outdone and knowing a good human (and marine mammal) interest story when they saw it, the editors sent a reporter and a photographer to Seal Beach. Neither the Register or Times saw fit to ask John’s mother or the rest of the family what they thought about his new pet.

    It’s hard to tell from the photo, but it appears that Pat didn’t have ear flaps, which would make him a seal and not a pet seal lion as featured in this 1917 post.

    There was also never a follow up story covering Pat’s eventual fate, but any marine biologist worth his or her salt water will tell you that adopting a seal or seal lion as a pet is not a good idea and will likely not end well for the critter. We can only hope that at some stage Pat moved on to have a full normal life in the ocean.

    (Incidentally, John seemed to be prone to car accidents. When he was fourteen, John broke his leg in Naples when he was thrown from a reckless friend’s car when it overturned while passing another car. In 1933, John was behind the driver’s seat this time and narrowly escaped when the delivery truck he was driving was clipped by a Pacific Electric train at Electric Avenue and Seventeenth Street in Seal Beach. The truck spun around and was knocked 50 feet down the road.)

    – 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.

  • March 13th in Seal Beach History

    On this date in 1957, Los Angles auctioneer Ted Gustafson was in Seal Beach to sell the 9-unit motel at 257 Bay Boulevard (Seal Beach Boulevard today) to the highest bidder.

    Not described in the Los Angeles Times ad was how the south building of the motel had been built at an angle to the boulevard to accommodate the adjacent Pacific Electric right of way.  When the U.S. Navy took possession of Anaheim Landing in 1944, the red car tracks were rerouted from Electric Avenue at Fifteenth Street to meet Pacific Coast Highway past Bay Boulevard. By 1957, the Pacific Electric red cars were no longer running on the track, but the supply trains used the track as a spur for loading well into the sixties.

    There are no details to share of how the auction went, but someone must have won because the motel is still there, converted into apartments under the cozy and inviting name of Snug Harbor.

    – 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.

  • February 6th In Seal Beach History

    On this date in 1937, the Seal Beach city council considered a number of matters in a long session, according to the Santa Ana Register.

    The first item considered was a petition with one hundred sixty-eight signers declaring an oil refinery operating at Fifth Street and Coast Highway a public nuisance and asking for the refinery’s removal. The refinery was owned by the California Refining Company and was leased to F. B. Cole Refining, plaintiffs in a $110,000 suit against the city. According to the petition, the refinery had a negative impact of the health and property of nearby residents.

    Another issue discussed was the installation of an additional power line from the steam plant operated by the Los Angeles Gas and Electrical Corporation to its new owner, the bureau of water and power (Today’s Department of Water and Power, also known as the DWP). The issue was ultimately tabled, but not before City Attorney B. B. Brown expressed concerns about the impact water outfall from the plant preventing build-up of sands on the west beach.  

    Representatives from Los Angeles expressed a willingness to work out a solution to the beach problem with the help of the Los Angeles county flood control district, but that would depend on the new owners. It was also mentioned that the Seal Beach steam plant would soon become a stand-by power plant as soon as the Boulder Dam plant went online, and that would probably diminish the water outfall from the Seal Beach plant.

    City Engineer Victor W. Hayes was instructed to remove old poles along East Ocean Avenue that had been abandoned for years by an amusement company. Hayes also reported that, after consulting the Coast Guard, removal of pilings from a collapsed section of the pier must be requested from the war department.

    The Pacific Electric Company reported that materials for work on the Twelfth Street grade crossing had been ordered and that the city could  begin paving between the tracks after the track and signal work was complete. Hayes submitted plans and an estimate for the city’s share of the costs for the project.

    Finally, a third reading of a “Walkathon” ordinance was made that would clear the way for an event to be held after the rainy season. The ordinance required a deposit of $500.

    Walkathons were dancing endurance contests that were both popular and controversial during the Great Depression. Read “They Shoot Horses, Don’t They?” by Horace McCoy or watch the film to get a flavor of what these events were like.

    This ordinance and the event it allowed would cause conflict and controversy in August and September of 1937. Watch this space.

    – 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.

  • January 29th In Seal Beach History

    On this date in 1914, a deed was recorded transferring 13.85 acres owned by Isaac W. Hellman to Guy M. Rush. The property joined Seal Beach (formerly Bay City) on the East (just past 14th Street) and stood between the Pacific Electric red car tracks (Electric Avenue) and the high tide line. This property was divided into lots and was given the exotic name of “tract no. 1.”

    The streets of tract no. 1 were more colorfully named with a nautical theme: Dolphin Avenue,  Seal Way, and Marine Avenue. The already existing Ocean Avenue  curved through tract no. 1 to meet Bay Boulevard (later renamed Seal Beach Boulevard). After Tent City and the Joy Zone were replaced by more housing, Seal Way was extended westward beyond 14th Street.

    The mortgage on the entire property was a whopping $ 44,015.

    This 1921 aerial view shows Seal Beach seven years after the sale of the lot:

    The triangle spotlights the boundaries of Tract no. 1.

    – 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.

     

  • January 21st In Seal Beach History

    On this date in 1913, the South Coast Improvement Association met, President Philip Stanton presiding.

    It was announced that Pacific Electric Railway President Shoup had arranged for hourly “Flyer” service on the Newport line, meaning that there would be no way stops between Los Angeles and the Willowville Junction (where the Blue Line meets Long Beach Boulevard at Willow Street today) in either direction. This meant a faster schedule for travelers to and from Bay City, Sunset Beach, Huntington Beach, Newport Beach, and Balboa.

    The Roads committee reported that it had met with the Orange County Board of Supervisors to request the building of a county road to commence no later than  February 1913 with working commencing at Anaheim Landing or Bay City and then proceeding south along the coast until completed.

    The South Coast Improvement Association  formed in 1912 and was comprised of the movers and shakers of Orange County real estate along the coast. Philip Stanton was its first president.

    These men saw better roads and infrastructure improvements as key selling features for their individual communities and promoted a regional inter-connectivity and ease of travel to attract homeowners and tourists into the area. They advocated for extended Pacific Electric red car services along the coast and are largely responsible for the Coast Highway that we still enjoy (and sometimes curse) today.

    – 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.

  • January 20th in Seal Beach History

    On this date in 1914, the citizens of Seal Beach agreed by unanimous vote to accept the donation of a $6000 tract of land offered by the Guy M. Rush Company and the Bayside Land Company to be the site for a school building. The site was located  between 11th and 12th Streets two blocks from the beach and close to the Pacific Electric line. Seal Beach Elementary School, which was later renamed Mary Zoeter School, was built on this site.

    The images below show the tract’s location on a Spence Aerial Photo taken almost eight years after the vote.

    Click on the image below for a better view of the tract’s location.

    – 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.

  • January 14th In Seal Beach History

    On this date in 1924, the Santa Ana Register reported that the Bayside Land Company had applied to the War Department for permission to dredge in Alamitos Bay and to use the dredged material as landfill for a new tract of land to the north of the coast highway at the west side of Seal Beach.

    It’s often hard to picture the old geography of Seal Beach from written descriptions and fit it to the current layout of the city. Here’s a closer view of a section of the 1922 photograph from above:

    Okay, maybe that helps a little, but some labels might make today’s post easier to understand:

    The old coast highway followed along the south edge of Alamitos Bay just to the left of Central Way (not Central Avenue). It then connected to Naples at Iona Walk. (Later the coast highway would be rerouted to connect to Naples along the street now called East Naples Plaza, but until the Long Marina was built, East Naples Plaza was just the eastern most part of Second Street in Naples.)

    If you’ve ever wondered why Central Way follows such a crooked path between First Street and Fifth Street, it’s because Central Way followed what was once the marshy edge of Alamitos Bay in Seal Beach before it was filled with dredged materials.

    Today’s Pacific Coast Highway did not exist in 1922 when this photo was taken, but its approximate route is labeled. Also missing is the steam plant at First Street and Ocean Avenue. It was constructed in 1925.

    The Pacific Electric bridge to Naples connected to what is now Appian Way close to where the Long Beach Yacht Club in the Long Beach Marina stands.

    Just below First Street, you can see the Ocean Avenue bridge to the Long Beach Peninsula. In 1922, the bridge only connected rail traffic from the Pacific Electric line to Seal Beach that ran down Ocean Avenue to Main Street and then turned to meet the Pacific Electric Newport-Balboa line at Electric Avenue. Automobile traffic didn’t cross along Ocean Avenue to the Long Beach peninsula until a new Ocean Avenue bridge was built in the thirties.

    – 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.

  • Stan Berry at The Red Car Museum – 8/25/2012

    Some of our most popular posts have featured historical photographs of Seal Beach police officers. These have come to us through the generosity of Stan Berry, a local expert on the Seal Beach Police Department and The Seal Beach Fire Department.  The photo below was too good not to share.  It show Stan at the 41st anniversary celebration of The Seal Beach Historical & Cultural Society’s Red Car Museum.

    20120825 Stan Berry

    The Red Car Museum is open the second and fourth saturday of every month from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m..  One of Seal Beach’s landmarks, the museum is housed in Pacific Electric Car #1734, a tower car that once served as a portable machine shop that performed repairs on Pacific Electric streetcar lines for decades until it was retired in 1950.  Today, the museum features exhibits of Seal Beach and Pacific Electric history and gift shop of local history merchandise.   You can find the Red Car Museum on Electric Avenue between Main Street and the library on the greenbelt that was once the Pacific Electric right of way through Seal Beach.