The Disneyland Hotel and the Old Courthouse

Author Don Ballard was in town today, and brought with him a portion of his vast collection of old Disneyland Hotel materials. Don wrote Disneyland Hotel: The Early Years, 1954-1988, which I read, enjoyed, and briefly reviewed last year. Today, Don set up a display near the Hotel’s employee cafeteria, where “cast members” could stop to learn something about the history of the place. He was also kind enough to let me rifle through his collection and make copies of some documents for the Archives. The photo above shows Don and I (right and left, respectively) holding aloft the shovel from the Hotel’s ground-breaking, which hadn’t been on the property in 52 years. (I included an inset image to make the text legible.)

I stopped past the third floor of the Old Courthouse today and it dawned on me that I hadn’t blogged about Old Courthouse Museum’s new Historical Education & Special Events Coordinator, Carey Baughman. Some months ago, she replaced Bradley Flint, who moved out to the Key Ranch historic park. Carey has interned and volunteered for more respectable historical institutions than you can shake a stick at. Her educational background is in history, anthropology and sociology, and she’s currently working on her PhD in Native American History at UC Riverside. Glad to have her for a neighbor.

Laguna Beach, Villa Park and Dana Point

Both Villa Park and Laguna Beach are represented in today's image. This old orange crate label (circa 1930s-1940s) from Villa Park Orchards depicts Three Arch Bay in Laguna. In the past few years, I've been putting together a small collection of some of the best (artistically) local citrus labels, and this one is definitely on my wish list. For a short history of Laguna Beach, check out this excerpt of Karen Turnbull's chapter on Laguna Beach in A Hundred Years of Yesterdays. The new edition of this book -- including chapters on all of O.C.'s communities -- is still for sale in the 3rd floor office of the Old County Courthouse. The Ocean Institute in Dana Point has hired Brent Rudmann to oversee maintenace and educational programs on the tall ships Pilgrim and Spirit of Dana Point. Talk about needing specialized job skills! And speaking of tall ships and Dana Point, the Tall Ships Festival will be held on the 7th, 8th and 9th of September in Dana Point Harbor. This event tends to be a little crowded, but it's a good chance to clamber around a bunch of big wooden ships in a single afternoon.

Newport Beach and Capistrano

Today's photo shows a bathing beach on Newport Harbor. I'm not sure of the date, but look at how empty the hills are! I'm sure the water was a lot cleaner too.
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The old buildings at Newport Harbor High School -- including the tower -- are now demolished. They claimed it would cost too much to bring everything up to earthquake code. I'm a bit confused by this, since the place held up nicely during the big quake in 1933. For that matter, so did the similar Huntington Beach High School, which was also designed by the noted architecture firm of Allison & Allison. It's hard to believe that a little retrofitting wouldn't have allowed NHHS to hold up to the next big quake. Ah, well,... It's a done deal now. At least the new buildings are supposed to look like replicas of the old ones. (For a Register article about one teacher's memories of the old Robins-Loats Hall, click here.)

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It looks like at least the facade of the old Port Theatre in Corona del Mar may be spared after all. Not because it's the right thing to do, of course -- but because the developer can get away with providing less parking that way.

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Also in Newport's news, the Lido 14 National Championship sailboat race is celebrating its 50th Anniversary.

And finally, down the road in San Juan Capistrano, the City Council has approved plans for a new park in the old Los Rios District. Some locals are very concerned about how well the park will blend into its surroundings.

I've slowly been adding links to local history websites from this blog since the beginning. Recently, I was amazed to realize there are now almost 80 such links lined up over there in the right-hand column! Maybe there's something to this history stuff after all.

Enchanted Village, Bowers blog, Jane Newell, etc

Today's photo shows Enchanted Village, a short-lived roadside attraction in Buena Park. This particular image comes from a 1977 postcard. Located on the site of the old Japanese Village & Deer Park, Enchanted Village featured wild animals on display and in shows. Visitors could also ride some of the tamer animal, including camels. There were also a few musical/dance shows starring human beings. There's a short thread about Enchanted Village starting about 2/3 of the way down this page at OCThen. A "fun map" of the park can be found at this link.

While searching the web for photos of old Santa Ana, I stumbled across a pleasant surprise. It turns out that the Bowers Museum has been posting images from their collection to a blog for months now! And the good news is they're dipping into their Orange County collection every so often. It's definitely worth a look.

Some historical preservationists in Anaheim are scrambling madly this week. The Library's Anaheim History Room will be closing for a month, beginning Sept. 1, in order to move into the new Muzeo building. So why the scramble? Well, the Mills Act deadline for Anaheim is the end of October, and these folks usually do their research in the History Room.

To Anaheimers running out of time, may I offer the services of the Orange County Archives? Although we lack the History Room's unbelievable wealth of all-things-Anaheim, we may be able to help you bridge some of the gaps vis-a-vis property records, aerial photos, Sanborn maps, etc. Meanwhile, you still have 8 working days to get your tukus to the Anaheim History Room. So go see Jane Newell while you can!

Speaking of Jane and the Anaheim History Room, how did I miss this interview with her earlier this month? Jane ranks very high on my personal list of "O.C.'s Coolest People." Her knowledge, effort, kindness and enthusiasm have made her a vital and beloved part of the community. In addition to running the popular Anaheim History Room, she is also in charge of the Mother Colony House, the Wolke-Stoffel (Red Cross) House, and innumerable other historical "duties as assigned."

Mystery solved, Sam's Seafood, and Tomorrowland

I think the aforementioned Mr. Brigandi has solved the mystery of Friday's "photo of the day." He thinks it's the Spangler Blacksmith Shop, which once stood at 211 N. Main, in Santa Ana. See the circa 1900 photo of Spangler's (above) for comparison. (Photo courtesy Calisphere.) The roof is a little different, but otherwise it matches up nicely. The building began life in 1869 as the home of Robert English -- the father-in law of William H. Spurgeon -- and was the first residence built in Santa Ana. Around 1891, it was heavily remuddled to serve as a blacksmith shop. The City's building survey (1972) says the structure was demolished in 1933, but Friday's photo (which shows the 1935 City Hall in the background), throws that 1933 date into question.

I'm not sure how I missed hearing about this in advance, but one of California's last tiki (a.k.a. Polyneisan Pop) restaurants has just re-opened in Sunset Beach. The previously-almost-destined-for-the-bulldozer Sam's Seafood reopened as "Sam's Tiki" on Thursday night. The crowded grand-reopening event was attended by such Poly-Pop luminaries as Bob VanOosting and Leroy Schmaltz of Oceanic Arts.

I hope the food is an improvement over the old Sam's, although the photos on the site look a little frou-frou for my tastes. But I'm still eager to give it a try. (Any of my fellow tiki fans care to go with me?) Mainly, I'm just very, very happy to see that this outstanding themed environment preserved for future generations.

And finally, my Phoenix correspondent, Greg Ottinger, sends me this YouTube link, providing a look back at the "new" Tomorrowland of 1967.

Knott's Berry Farm, Phil Brigandi, Tustin, etc.

Today's photo (above) shows Walter Knott taking two of his girls on a tour of Ghost Town in the 1940s. The sign on the blacksmith's door advertises an article about Knott's Berry Farm in the latest issue of Reader's Digest. More about Knott's and the blacksmith shop later. But first...

Local historian and County Archivist Phil Brigandi has finally launched his own website about Southern California history. He's the first person you'd WANT to see create a website, but the last one you'd EXPECT to create one. Frankly, I think his claims of luddite-ism are overstated. The site includes information about Orange County, the City of Orange, Anza-Borrego, the Ramona pageant and myth, the backcountry of Riverside and San Diego counties, Temecula, Hemet, San Jacinto, Indians, Lost Valley, and Scouting. The site is short on bells and whistles, but long on substantive content, which is a good thing. If you get the chance, send Phil an email encouraging him to continue and expand the site.

For an O.C. Archives project, I recently had the Blacksmith Shop in Ghost Town (Knott's Berry Farm) make two branding irons. Blacksmith Dan Rick really went above and beyond the call of duty, turning out two beautifully crafted irons, each bearing a historic local brand. Each was scaled down to 3rd-grader size, and will eventually be part of a traveling educational kit. (I'm sure the size added an extra degree of difficulty.) I've known Dan for a while, and he's a great guy, but I had no idea how talented he was until now. If you need any smithing done, I can definitely recommend the guys in Ghost Town.

I'm going to start making the "daily photos" bigger on these posts. Let me know if you like it more or less.

Oh, and I forgot to post a link to the Register article about the tale of Tustin's 1924 bank safe.

MP3 tours, Yen Ngoc Do, and fun at the beach

Today's photo shows fields near Santa Ana being harvested with a combine, circa 1905.

Mission San Juan Capistrano will soon offer downloadable, self-guided audio tours for your MP3 player. That's a pretty cool idea, and could certainly be replicated at other historic sites throughout the County at a minimal cost.

Dwight's and Jack's beach concessions in Huntington Beach -- both founded and owned by the Clapp family -- are celebrating their 75th and 50th anniversaries, respectively.

And speaking of the beach, the Register ran an article today about San Clemente's Tom Morey, the inventor of the Boogie Board.

A bust of pioneering Vietnamese-American journalist Yen Ngoc Do was unveiled last week. In 1978, Do founded the Nguoi Viet Daily News in Garden Grove, which became the largest Vietnamese newspaper in the U.S. For more information about Mr. Do, here is a link to an article written after his death last year, and another article by his daughter. (No, I haven't learned where the bust is located, as the Register failed to mention it, and no other news sources seemed to cover the story.)

Daveland has been posting a lot of slides from the short-lived Mickey Mouse Club Circus at Disneyland (circa 1955). If you're in the park tomorrow, I may see you there.

O.C. Historical Commission, etc.

Today's photo was taken in 1936 and is marked, "The oldest building in Santa Ana." The peak of the new (1935) City Hall can be seen in the background. If you know more, please share.
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Like many in the O.C. historical community, I was shocked to learn that both Don Dobmeier and Ed Coté have been replaced on the Orange County Historical Commission. I have no idea who will be appointed in their place, but they have some big boots to fill.
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Personally, this screws up Tuesdays for me. You see, for many years, Don has donated his Tuesdays to the Commission. (I think he’s been on the Commission since it began -- Almost as long as I’ve been alive.) And every week, he stops at the Archives to chat with us. I’ve come to really like and respect Don. I’ve learned a lot from him, and he’s even (indirectly) gotten me hooked on postcard collecting. Tuesdays just won’t be the same.
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Likewise, Commission meeting days won't be the same without Ed's whirlwind visits. I hope both gentlemen will still stop by frequently, whether or not they’re on the Commission.

Recently, there was a new post about the old Santa Ana Drag Strip on OCThen. Come to that, there have been a lot of updates at OCThen lately, including posts about Denny's, Chez Cary, Lemon Heights, Santa Ana High School, and more.

The Dixieland Bandstand is the latest ex-attraction to be featured at Yesterland.com.

And finally, I thought you historians and history fans would enjoy this documentary about hobos. If you've ever rolled your eyes at Ken Burns, you'll get a real kick out of it. I watched it twice and enjoyed it more the second time.