Newport, San Juan, Dana Pt, Laguna & Anaheim

 The photo above shows "Doc, Cornelia and Em" enjoying the Fourth of July, 1938, on Upper Newport Bay. Looks like they didn't have to struggle to find a spot on the shore.

I've been pretty bad about posting in the past couple weeks, so here's at least a few items to get caught up,...

Trabuco Canyon's own Hamilton Oaks Winery is turning the Swanner House in San Juan Capistrano into their tasting room. The Swanner House is on the National Register of Historic Places. At least on paper, this seems like a pretty reasonable "adaptive reuse" of this important structure.

The City of Dana Point will provide the Dana Point Historical Society with a 20' x 40' space at City Hall to use as a historical exhibit space. That's great news for the Society and a great precedent for other cities to follow.

Speaking of Dana Point, a scenic overlook at Heritage Park will be named for historian Doris Walker and will feature a sculpture evoking her work. Some sort of official naming ceremony is tentatively planned for mid-August. I'll post details if I hear more about it.

 South County history watchdog/maven Manny Madrano reports that the "Blue Lagoon" community's entrance sign on PCH in Laguna Beach was dismantled and replaced with something much more boring. The sign has long been one of the most interesting and attractive bits of "built environment" along the coast, and it seems senseless to have taken it down. The photo above shows the old sign. Note the blue tile inlay and distinctive font. (Click photo to enlarge.)

This next photo shows the old entrance at night. Unfortunately, it was Christmastime, and the holiday lights detract from the wonderful glowing "torches." In any case, it looks like folks have once again traded attractive, interesting, and distinctive for boring and nondescript. What's wrong with people?

The Anaheim Historical Society has been posting some extra-interesting stuff on their blog lately, including interviews with Diann Marsh and Keith Olesen and a look back at their 35th anniversary year. (I only wonder how much they had to edit Diann and Keith's comments. They both have preservation war stories to tell that would make your hair stand on end.)