In response to my recent post about the Bolsa Chica Gun Club in Huntington Beach, my archaeologist pal, Doug McIntosh wrote that in late 1994 "we did a job at the gun club site. Documented several of the hunting blinds and the pumping system which supplied fresh water into the marsh. The wooden hunting blind features were littered with old brass shot gun shells and broken Perrier-style mineral water bottles. It was a real treat to see these features...".
Doug provided all of today's photos, including the culvert (with gate) shown above, and the old flume seen below.
Doug writes, "The features are of milled redwood and dated to the gun club period of operation... The salts in the ground aided in preserving many of wooden blinds and flume system which supplied fresh water..."
The image above shows a Byron Jackson centrifugal pump (post-1909). The image below shows a wooden culvert. Note the oil well and bluffs in the background.
Doug also writes that, coincidentally, "In the early 1930s our family, which supplied the Alpha Beta grocery store chain with beef, leased some of this area to graze cattle."
The photo above shows the pump, wooden culvert, and Doug's shadow. (Dontcha hate it when that happens?) Another closeup of the pump and its platform are shown below.
Personally, I remember seeing even more bits of the old Gun Club still standing when I used to haunt this area as a kid. I wouldn't be surprised if things went missing between the late 1980s and the mid-1990s. I took some photos back then, but I have to find them before I can share them here.
4 comments:
Along the mentioned imported mineral water bottles, we also noted a number of discarded bottles which had contained stronger adult beverages. Marks on bottles generally dated c.1900 to 1920s.
By any chance, has anyone ever found wooden decoys on the property?
I am a history lover and local metal detectorist, I have found some neat history detecting the old gun club area and even contacted HB To donate the items but they had no interest =( so sad but i love hearing your stories, i have yet to find these pictured blinds though, i have seen some left over remains but nothing like these, i wonder if there still there ??????
Have any interior photos of the gun club surfaced?
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