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Tag: Tenth Street

  • August 25th in Seal Beach History

    On this date in 1964, a sixty-year old evangelist preaching the bible in Seal Beach was assaulted by a band of teen-age delinquents.

    Mark Frank Forsyth of Huntington Beach told police that he had been preaching at 10th Street on the beach as he done many times before in the previous two years. This time, however, a group of at least five teenagers began to heckle him at approximately 2 p.m. 

    One of the teens grabbed Forsyth’s hat, and then the verbal assault escalated into violence. The other boys pelted Forsyth with rocks, hit him with their fists, and burnt him with cigarettes on the neck and left ankle. Forsyth’s clothes were torn as he tried to flee, and one boy grabbed his bible and tracts and begin to rip the pages of his bible. During the scuffle, no one came to Forsyth’s aid.

    Later, the police brought in a fourteen-year old Long Beach youth on charges of participating in a riot, assault and battery, and armed riot, but he denied taking part in the attack and refused to identify any of his fellow teens.

    When interviewed by an AP reporter, Forsyth said that he preached because he was “concerned for the spirit and physical well-being of the thousands of teenagers who flock to the beaches.”

    – Michael Dobkins

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  • June 7th in Seal Beach History

    On this date in 1958, the Seal Beach Community Chapel Assembly of God, located at 10th Street and Electric Avenue held a revival by Reverend and Mrs. Jerry Barnard at 7:30 pm.

    This was the start of a revival series in Seal Beach by Reverend Bernard that lasted throughout June, a campaign he and his wife had conducted successfully a number of times at several Long Beach churches. Mrs. Bernard provided inspirational music for the events, which one hopes was not the “Something Worse Than Hell!” mentioned in this ad. Other highlights of Reverend Barnard’s series were two sermons, “Can Man Live Forever in This Present World?” and the prophetic “The Invasion From Outer Space.”

    The Community Chapel Assembly of God held meeting nightly except for Mondays, and Reverend Walter M. Price presided over the non-revival church activities.

    – Michael Dobkins

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  • March 11th in Seal Beach History

    On this date in 1929, a fire was set in the Seal Beach Methodist Church auditorium.

    This was no criminal act of arson, however. The only damage from the fire was to a mortgage note for the two lots at Tenth Street and Central Avenue where the church buildings stood. The mortgage was $2300 loaned in 1923 by Judge John C. Ord, one of the city’s founders (and the church’s neighbor across the Central Avenue.) The mortgage was completely destroyed.

    The perpetrators of the blaze were Seal Beach mayor R. E. Dolley and J. Simonson of Long Beach. The two lit the fire in front of a crowd celebrating the paid off mortgage and the completion of a church remodeling that included a larger auditorium, a larger kitchen, modification to the stage and the addition of what was called “a commodious club room.”

    Donations made towards the mortgage included $100 plus interest by the Ladies’ Aid Society, $800 from Mayor Dolley, $100 from Mr. and Mrs. D.P. Proctor, $400 from Judge Ord himself, and $1000 in individual gifts from Methodist Churches in Long Beach.

    An additional $1000 for remodeling costs was collected through individual donations. The remodeling work had been done by members of the community.
    – Michael Dobkins

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