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Tag: Seal Beach History

  • February 7th in Seal Beach History

    On this date in 1954, the Lakewood Park Corporation, a developer of a major share of the Lakewood residential area, announced the purchase of one hundred eighty-three acres of the Hellman Ranch. The land was north of Pacific Coast Highway and bordered by Bolsa Avenue, Bay Boulevard (now Seal Beach Boulevard, and Landing Hill. The purchase price was $4,000 an acre for a total of $732,00.

    Here’s an aerial view from fifteen years earlier that includes the acreage purchased.

    The highlighted area is the approximate location of the land purchased.This purchase did not include the future site of J. H. McGaugh Intermediate School. That lot was purchased in 1952, and construction of the new school began in 1954 and completed in time to open for the fall 1955 school year.

    Here’s another Seal Beach aerial photo from nine years after the purchase.

    The tract has been divided into lots, homes have been built and sold, and families have moved in. J. H. McGaugh Intermediate School had been open for eight years, and there’s a large vacant lot that will become the Seal Beach Shopping Center in 1966.

    – Michael Dobkins

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  • 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

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  • February 5th In Seal Beach History

    On this date in 1961, Seal Beachers seeking high styling and tinting needed only to visit Eleanor for Beauty for fulfillment, according to this ad in the Long Beach Independent Press-Telegram. Feb_5_Eleanor_for_Beauty_AdIf you drop by Eleanor for Beauty’s location today, the salon is long gone, but you can console your unstyled and untinted self with a thin crust pie from Slice Of New York Pizza.

    – Michael Dobkins

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  • February 4th In Seal Beach History

    On this date in 1973, the Long Beach Independent Press-Telegram ran this ad for garden apartments in Seal Beach Leisure World:

    Feb_4_1973_Leisure_World_Ad– Michael Dobkins

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  • February 3rd In Seal Beach History

    On this date in 1966, Long Beach Independent society editor, Iola Masterson, reported that a housewarming party given for Kenny and Dorris Martinson in their new College Park home was “a swinging surprise.” Their daughter, Linda, schemed with party planners Mariam and George Irwin and Lois and Dr. Les Watson to surprise her parents by arriving unannounced just as the Martinson family was departing for a local restaurant, the Hunting Horn, where Linda had “made reservations.”

    Caught between wanting to be polite but also worried about being late for the dining reservations, Kenny and Dorris were further surprised when a predetermined signal was given and a gang of thirty party-goers rushed from hiding spots in parked cars to ambush the new College Park residents with gag gifts, food and “all the fixings for a happy hour.”

    Among the ambushing neighbors were Al and Marge Davis, Howell and Vyrle Honeywell, Mac and Jane Epley, Smitty and June Crain, Bud and Joyce Holton, and Nerrill and Phyllis Scott.

    In addition to the gag gifts, Kenny and Dorris Martinson were given a $50 gift certificate and $15 in cash. They planned to use the cash to buy and plant a tree to commemorate the friendship and fun of the surprise housewarming evening.

    How Iola Masterson got “swinging” from any of that remains a mystery.

    – Michael Dobkins

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  • February 2nd In Seal Beach History

    On this date in 1954, two Marines, Leroy Grant and Sgt. Jack Yasser, entered the Motorome motel office at Twelfth Street and Pacific Coast Highway and demanded money from owner Luke W. Purdue at gunpoint. When they forced him into a second room where the money was kept, Purdue’s wife, Bertha ran from the room.

    Motorome MotelOne of the gunmen started after her, but Purdue blocked their way. “You’ve gone far enough,” he said.

    The two would-be robbers turned and fled. Purdue grabbed his .38 revolver and shot four times. Yasser fell and dropped his .45 automatic before getting to his feet to escape with his partner.

    Hours later, Grant and Yasser were arrested at the Santa Ana Lighter-Than-Air Base after Yasser visited the base dispensary for treatment of bullet wounds to his right elbow and hip.

    – Michael Dobkins

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  • February 1st In Seal Beach History

    On this date in 1929, S. B. Ablis of Long Beach and Clide Maupin of Maywood were detained in the Seal Beach city jail for driving while intoxicated. Displeased by having their Friday night adventures cut short, the two men set fire to a pile of magazines and papers that were left in the jail for prisoners. They also turned on the water faucets and flooded their cell. After the smoke alert officers in the jail to the situation, the fire was extinguished and the faucets were tightened shut.

    Once again, the two drunks were left alone to sober up, but before that could happen, they set fire to the bedding and the mattresses in their cell. After this blaze was doused, the police officers wisely confiscated tobacco and matches from the two prisoners.

    The next day Mr. Ablis and Mr. Maupin not only suffered from what were probably terrible hangovers, but they were also fined for their antics by Judge Wilson.

    – Michael Dobkins

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  • January 31st In Seal Beach History

    sealsOn this date in 1924, the Santa Ana Register reported under the headline of “SEAL BEACH REGRETS WAR ON PACIFIC SEALS” that a war against seals was advocated by fishermen due to the seals destroying too many nets and feasting “too liberally upon fish meant for human consumption.”

    This annihilation of the seals was opposed in Seal Beach. The Santa Ana Register added that the “tourists and residents of Seal Beach would deeply regret to lose their companionship and the added attraction of their presence on the sand spit which they chose long years ago as the finest sun parlor on the Pacific.”

    – Michael Dobkins

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  • January 30th In Seal Beach History

    On this date in 1924, a newly reorganized Seal Beach Chamber of Commerce meet under the direction of president C. J. Smith. The school orchestra opened the meeting with several musical selections.

    Dr. Everett Reed requested that Mrs. Padrick, city clerk, and I. C. Smith, a Los Angeles manufacturer and Seal Beach resident, assist him on the committee of industry and manufacture.

    H.W. Raymer of the entertainment committee suggested that a banquet be held to promote interest and sociability.

    C. M. Conlee brought to the chamber’s attention some much-needed public improvements, such as a school bond issue, a public restroom, street names installed on curbs, and a new city hall (it would take over five years for this suggestion to become a reality) .

    F. L. Wilson also suggested that air transportation to Seal Beach would soon become a reality.

    Finally, J. C. Putnam reported that every business firm in Seal Beach with one or two exceptions had joined and that number of members of the reinvigorated Seal Beach Chamber of Commerce would surpass one hundred before the meeting adjourned. 

    All this was reported under a Santa Ana Register headline of “SEAL BEACH TO BACK CHAMBER WITH VIM.” We don’t see much vim around town nowadays.

    – Michael Dobkins

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  • 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

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