Huntington Beach, Santa Ana, Googie, etc.

The 1906 Western falsefront at 123 Main St, in Huntington Beach was demolished a couple weeks ago. Architecturally, it was always underwhelming,.. but it was one of the few historic structures left on Main. It was originally the Huntington Cafe. Over the past century, it served as many other restaurants including The Fryin' Pan, the Marigols Cafe, Ira's Cafe and the California Cafe. It ended its life as the Sunshine clothing store. (See photo above, which I took in December).

The Santa Ana Historical Preservation Society's annual member dinner will be held on Tuesday, March 20. Their speaker will be theatre designer and historian Joseph Musil, who will discuss the grand local theatres of the early 20th century and "what they each did to be better than the next." More event details are posted on the SAHPS website.

The Costa Mesa Historical Society will host a presentation by architect Richard Dodd on "The Evolution of Architecture Styles in Orange County, on Sunday, Feb. 25th. Doors open at 2:00pm. The program begins at 2:30pm and will last roughly an hour. Refreshments will be served. I've seen this program, and it's a interesting and enjoyable introduction to early architectural styles in Southern California.

My fellow Googie/Modern architecture fans will want to check out Tom Lundin's 3D architectural models on his website. Having done a little of this work myself in college, I know just enough to recognize how many hours of effort this represents. And if the preservationists don't keep up the fight, these digital models may soon be all that exists of these Southern California icons. (Once you're on the site, click the link icons to the lower right to see additional buildings.)

And finally, here's an amusing visual warning about believing what you see in "old" photos... especially on the web. (Link)