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.