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| The Dana Point headlands and pier in 1927 |
When the San Juan Point Corporation laid out the Dana Point subdivision in 1924, it wasn’t the first attempt to create a community along that stretch of coastline. The
San Juan-by-the-Sea resort village at today’s Capistrano Beach fizzled when the 1880s real estate boom went bust. And the construction of Blanche Dolph’s mansion nearby in 1914 did not give rise to more investment in the area.
But by the Roaring Twenties there was optimism among the investors of the San Juan Point Corporation – including directors P. Herman Krick of Anaheim, Dr. Jay L. Beebe of Anaheim, Joe and Guy Skidmore of Laguna Beach, and executive manager and sales officer Anna G. Walters. The economy was booming, new towns were springing up across Southern California, people had money to purchase beach houses, coastal tourism was thriving, and a new highway along the coast was in the offing. And the corporation owned land with spectacular blufftop ocean views.
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| Anna G. Walters in 1918 (Courtesy Dana Point Historical Society) |
They named their planned town after the prominent headlands visited in 1835 by mariner, lawyer and anti-slavery activist Richard Henry Dana, who discussed the spot in his popular book,
Two Years Before the Mast. In keeping with the nautical theme, the corporation named many of the streets after
ships lanterns of various colors, such as Street of the Golden Lantern and Street of the Green Lantern.
Unfortunately, Coast Highway did not yet reach Dana Point, making access to the town difficult. Moreover, there was no good source of fresh water nearby. The San Juan Point Corp. soon folded. Walters, who’d built the first home in the subdivision for herself, remained until her death in 1932, running her own real estate business and building her Blue Lantern Fountain Lunch and Service Station.
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| Pointing at a Dana Point lantern, 1927 |
Despite the corporation’s failure, the dream of Dana Point lived on. Developer Sidney Hawks Woodruff started looking for investors as early as 1925 and bought the whole development in 1926. His new, better-funded Dana Point Syndicate included General Moses H. Sherman and the Chandler family (which owned the Los Angeles Times). Today, Woodruff is best remembered for the large letters spelling out the name of his Hollywoodland development on the side of Mount Lee in Los Angeles. (Eventually, the letters L-A-N-D were removed.)
By 1927 the new syndicate was moving ahead full sail. They substantially expanded the scope of the existing Dana Point development plans, built a fishing pier, added a blufftop gazebo, and eventually began constructing a luxury hotel. There were plans not only for tracts of Spanish-style homes but also a marina, golf courses and a polo field. Building on the idea of the “Lantern” street names, the syndicate lit those streets with copper ship lanterns.
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| S. H. Woodruff (in bow tie) presents cup to winner of Dana Point's first yacht race, 1929 |
To much fanfare, construction of the Roosevelt (a.k.a. Coast) Highway – stretching from Canada to Mexico – was completed in July 1929. It seemed that increased vehicle access now ensured Dana Point’s success. But nobody expected the catastrophic stock market crash that followed in October.
In the wake of that crash, the syndicate remained hopeful and continued building and marketing. Looking south, they could see the similarly planned community of
San Clemente managing to survive. But Dana Point had been slower out of the gate than San Clemente and never got a chance to establish itself before the full effects of the Great Depression settled in.
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| View from the headlands, circa 1927. Blue Lantern Fountain Lunch is front and center. |
Meanwhile, oil scion Edward L. “Ned” Doheny, Jr. had made a new effort to develop Capistrano Beach (today a part of the City of Dana Point). The Depression’s effects alone would likely have meant failure for this development. But Capistrano Beach also suffered another setback in February 1929, when Ned and his secretary were found dead from gunshot wounds at Doheny’s Graystone Manor in Beverly Hills.
Although some lots were sold and some houses were built early on, both Dana Point and Capistrano Beach failed to take off because of the Great Depression. The largely empty land remained in suspended animation – in some areas with streets and streetlights but no buildings – until both the Depression and World War II ended. Almost as afterthoughts, the Dana Point Syndicate finally went bankrupt in 1939 and the Doheny family sold of the last of their Capistrano Beach property in 1944. It was only in 1950s – as Orange County’s population grew exponentially, additional water sources were tapped, and new freeways were built – that the dream of Dana Point was revived and began becoming a reality.
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| Dana Point headlands and pier in the 1950s |
Despite these false starts, Dana Point eventually lived up to and then far exceeded expectations. And while the town may never have gotten its polo field, it does have the promised golf course and a much-loved small-craft harbor. The tremendous success of this thriving community of 34,000 would have surprised even the ever-optimistic Anna G. Walters and Sidney Woodruff.
(Article expanded in May 2026. Special thanks to Barbara Johannes for her valuable editorial input.)
The federal government has decided that the Juañenos don't rate recognition as a tribe. I wonder if they would have fared better had the three factions united before approaching the Feds. In any case, I'm sure appeals are already being prepared.
