What was happening at Huntington Beach in 1884?

Sedgwick Post G.A.R.’s shrine to fallen comrades, circa 1887, Santa Ana. (Courtesy Library of Congress)

Two blurbs published in the Los Angeles Herald in June 1884 were undoubtedly unremarkable at the time, but now provide a glimpse of some of the earliest recorded events on the coast at what's now Huntington Beach. Both items deal with a gathering held by the Grand Army of the Republic (G.A.R.) – an organization for Civil War veterans of the Union Army – at “Shell Beach,” which became Pacific City in 1901, and finally Huntington Beach around 1903. The two blurbs follow:

• "…Sedgwick Post of the G.A.R. of Santa Ana contemplates a grand encampment at the ocean beach down near Newport. They will take their wife and families and stay during the 2d, 3d, and 4th of July. A jolly, happy idea." (6-17-1884)
• "The members of Sedgwick Post, G.A.R., have made arrangements for a campfire at Shell Beach, on July 2, 3, 4 and 5. Army rations, pork, beans and coffee will be issued each day." (6-24-1884)

The General John Sedgwick Post, No. 17, was the local G.A.R. chapter, based in Santa Ana. Their 1884 Shell Beach encampment is the first known of its kind that we now know about. Until now, the earliest known event of this kind in Orange County was held in 1888 by the Southern California Veteran's Association (SCVA) – an informal branch of the G.A.R. that planned their encampments – at Anaheim Landing (now part of Seal Beach). According to local Civil War historian Charles Beal, the 1888 event was probably the SCVA’s first encampment. 

It wasn’t until 1905 that the SCVA held its first of numerous large-scale encampments for G.A.R. members at the Methodist Campgrounds, centered at what’s now the intersection of Pecan St. and 12th St. in Huntington Beach. These large conventions, held at what was dubbed “Tent City” or “Arbamar,” were very important to the local economy prior to the Huntington Beach oil boom of 1920. These veterans’ events filled the tents on the Methodist Campgrounds and the (few) local hostelries, like the Evangeline Hotel. The encampments were heavily photographed and extensively written about in the local newspapers. They were important events in the early Huntington Beach.

Sunset at Huntington Beach. (Photo by author)

The references to an event in the summer of 1884 are significant in that they suggest the G.A.R. came to Huntington Beach much earlier than previously known, that the G.A.R. was holding encampments here even prior to the SCVA, and that people were using the strand at Huntington Beach for events much earlier than was previously known. 

Unfortunately, while there are multiple references in the newspapers for weeks prior to the 1884 event, so far no post-event summaries have come to light. Is it possible the event was rained out (unlikely in July) or that it proved so underwhelming that nobody saw fit to mention it again? Perhaps further details will on day come to light. 

O.C. Q&A: Halloween Edition

Q:  Are there any Nessie-type lake monsters in Orange County?

A:  The closest thing to such a legend was Old Bob, the “monster of Laguna Lake” – a dark presence that menaced ducks and snapped fishing lines from the 1950s into the 2000s. 

While draining the lake for maintenance in 2004, workers finally discovered what appeared to be a large log but which snapped at them with incredibly powerful jaws. Old Bob was a 4-foot long, 100-pound alligator snapping turtle. Native to the American southeast, ugly as sin, and downright dangerous, his specie is the largest among freshwater turtles. Old Bob was likely a pet someone dumped long ago.

He was briefly displayed at the Fullerton Arboretum’s Fall Festival before going into retirement in a pond (with a cave, waterfall and plenty of fish) provided by the O.C. Chapter of the California Turtle and Tortoise Club. Old Bob died of natural causes at his “turtle assisted living facility” around 2010. 

Q:  What's a somewhat forgotten Orange County Halloween tradition?

A:  The Halloween concerts of ska-infused New Wave octet Oingo Boingo were a local holiday tradition through the 1980s until their final show in 1995. From 1986 to 1993 -- at the height of their popularity -- those shows were held at Irvine Meadows (later Verizon Wireless Amphitheater and now apartments).  

Band leader Danny Elfman (now better known for movie scores) belted out peppy/macabre songs like "Dead Man's Party" and “No One Lives Forever.” Costumed revelers danced through shows that lasted for hours.  

Many of the band members still perform Halloween shows as the creatively-named Oingo Boingo Former Members. 

Elfman said long ago that he was done with concerts, citing partial deafness from years of loud music. But in the last couple years, advances in Weird Science allowed Elfman to return to the stage without further hearing damage. But he has not performed again with his former band.

Q:  What's the strangest beast ever to have washed up on Orange County's beaches?

A:  Not counting a couple of my surfer friends, the strangest bit of local flotsam was probably the 22-foot "sea serpent" that washed up in Newport Beach in February 1901. It turned out to be an oarfish, a rarely-seen deep sea animal. It made quite an impression on those who saw it and read about it in the newspapers. The Newport Harbor Chamber of Commerce was still putting it on their promotional maps of the area in the 1950s.