Tag Archives: Beaches
Pacific Electric streetcar travel through Redondo Beach, south of Los Angeles, 1939
I would imagine that this would be one of the more scenic streetcar routes in all of Los Angeles. Here we’re seeing a Pacific Electric car on a track paralleling Redondo Beach, which is the third beach south of L.A. … Continue reading
Pacific Palisades Lighthouse with restaurant and bathhouse on the Roosevelt Highway (later Pacific Coast Highway), circa 1930
Yesterday’s photo of Carl’s Sea Air Lodge didn’t show the lighthouse that stood across the Roosevelt Highway (later Pacific Coast Highway.) Built in 1927, the Pacific Palisades Lighthouse had a working light but, unlike most lighthouses, it also had a … Continue reading
Carl’s “Sea Air” Lodge Motor Apartments, Pacific Coast Highway, north of Santa Monica, California, circa early 1950s
This shot of Carl’s “Sea Air” Lodge on the Pacific Coast Highway roughly a mile north of Santa Monica is very 1950s – the eye-catching tower soaring above a one-story motel, those circa early 1950s cars parked out front, that … Continue reading
Roosevelt Highway (later Pacific Coast Highway), Santa Monica beach, California, 1938
California State Route 1 runs along pretty much the whole California coast but takes on different names at different stages. In Los Angeles, it’s known as the Pacific Coast Highway, but back when this photo was taken in 1938, it … Continue reading
Trancas Restaurant, 30763 Pacific Coast Highway, Malibu Beach, circa 1950
These days, Malibu is a long stretch of expensive beach houses lining the shore, but back in the 1950s, when this photo was taken, it wasn’t much more than a bunch of scattered buildings. Trancas Restaurant, which we can see … Continue reading
Oil derricks crowd Huntington Beach, California, circa 1960s
I don’t know about you, but when I think of sunny days spent lazing on golden California beaches, I’m not picturing a forest of oil derricks chugga-chugga-chugging as far as the eye can see. In this circa 1960s shot, it … Continue reading
A view looking northwest across the lagoon and Coral Canal, Venice, California, circa early 1900s
In this colorized (probably hand-tinted) postcard, we’re afforded a glimpse of how Abbot Kinney originally envisaged his “Venice of America” development. We’re looking northwest across the lagoon and that canal in the background was known as Coral Canal, which was … Continue reading
The 3,800-foot-long Rainbow Pier in Long Beach, California
The aptly named Rainbow Pier in Long Beach, California was actually a breakwater. Opening in 1931, the pier extended a quarter of a mile into the Pacific and was so wide with that vehicles could drive along it. For more … Continue reading
Café Nat Goodwin at the foot of Hollister Ave in the Ocean Park, Santa Monica, California, 1917
If you were looking for a good time in Los Angeles in the mid 1910s, you’d do well by driving to the Ocean Park section of Santa Monica. At the end of Hollister Ave you’d find Bristol Pier, which was … Continue reading
A Plymouth and a Hudson parked on Main Street, Huntington Beach, California, December 1957
This is a scene out of 1950s California if ever there was one. The greaser on the sidewalk is about to saunter past a 1956 salmon and gray Hudson sedan and a green and white 1954 Plymouth. This photo was … Continue reading