Jim Sleeper, The Port, Dana Point, etc.

There's a short interview with O.C. historian Jim Sleeper in today's Register. (Guy Ball is also quoted in the article, and Phil Brigandi appears in the background of their file photo.) If you have any interest in local history, you need to hunt down Jim's books now and read them. His legendary status as both a historian and a writer is deserved. [The photo at right shows Sleeper in the 1980s.]

Here's one I missed on last week's "Things That Will Disappear Soon" list: The Port Theater, 2905 E. Coast Hwy, in Corona del Mar. It opened in 1950, closed in 1998, and was designated as a historic landmark by the City of Newport Beach in 2003. The last line of the Register's article about the Port's demise is a real winner: "Everybody likes the charm and the past,...But everybody needs to make money."
Why do people think those two things are mutually exclusive? People will pay for things they like! No, the thing that killed the Port -- like the Balboa Theater before it -- was lack of parking.

Recently, Daveland has featured some great late-1950s views of the Rainbow Caverns Mine Train/Nature’s Wonderland at Disneyland.

Cynthia Conti will present "The Historical Approach: A Marriage of History, Archaeology and Architecture" at the Dana Point Historical Society meeting on Monday, March 26, 7pm at the Community Center, 34052 Del Obispo. Refreshments will be served. For more information, call the DPHS at 248-8121.