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    Huntington Beach, California
    Huntington Beach, California
    Huntington Beach, California
    Ebook157 pages30 minutes

    Huntington Beach, California

    By Chris Epting

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    About this ebook

    Incorporated in 1909, Huntington Beach remained a sleepy seaside town until the city's legendary oil boom in the 1920s. Wells sprang up overnight, and in less than a month, the city's population more than doubled. As the area developed culturally through the decades, the once tiny farming community increased its size with 25 miles of annexations to become one of Southern California's major tourist destinations. Pictured here in nearly 200 vintage photographs is the evolution of this small seaside village into a classic, Southern California beach city, known as Surf City to nearly a million tourists a year. Showcased here are images acquired from city records, including shots of the famous Huntington Beach Pier as it evolved over the century, rare amateur photos of one of the largest gushers in city history, vintage beach scenes, rarely seen historic aerial views, images of the turn of the century "Tent City," the infamous flood of 1938, and nostalgic shots of the Saltwater Plunge.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherArcadia Publishing
    Release dateJun 1, 2001
    ISBN9781439613191
    Huntington Beach, California
    Author

    Chris Epting

    Memoirist Chris Epting has a distinguished career that spans over a dozen popular memoirs, including collaborations with notable figures such as John Oates, the Doobie Brothers, Leif Garrett, Tyrus, Dave Mason, Olympian Shirley Babashoff, Def Leppard’s Phil Collen, and others. Epting brings a wealth of experience and wisdom to aspiring writers. Also, as an award-winning journalist and author of many popular nonfiction titles from travel to sports to pop culture, Epting’s storytelling skills have made him a popular guest on many television and radio programs.

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      Book preview

      Huntington Beach, California - Chris Epting

      Beach

      INTRODUCTION

      Though we’ve only lived here for little over a couple of years, it’s hard for me to imagine my family and I not spending the rest of our lives in Huntington Beach. The weather is near perfect; never too hot or too cold. All year, gentle breezes carry the scent of the ocean throughout the city and with it, the innocence and promise of summer. It’s situated close to all of the area’s major cities from Los Angeles to San Diego to Palm Springs. Points of interest including Disneyland, Knotts Berry Farm, and my personal favorite, Anaheim Stadium, are all no more than a 30-minute drive.

      The snow-covered San Gabriel Mountains provide a picturesque backdrop in winter, when daytime temperatures can still linger in the 60s and 70s. On clear days, even though it’s 26 miles out at sea, Catalina Island seems close enough to touch. While it’s been developed more than I’m sure some of the locals would prefer, Huntington Beach still retains a good amount of small town, beach city charm. The beaches are roomy and far-reaching, yet within a mile are some of Orange County’s most beautiful parks and recreational areas. There are lots of great restaurants and hangouts. And if you like to surf, well, this town is called Surf City for a reason.

      It’s a unique place with an interesting history, which is why I started looking for some sort of historical picture book when I moved here. I love books like that. Lots of pictures. Good captions. Books you can wander with. But one didn’t exist. So I thought I’d propose the idea to a publisher who creates books like that. And so here we are. Now, had I found a book like this in the first place, I’d want it to have brief history of Huntington Beach. So here goes.

      The birth of this city occurred more than 100 years ago. Originally a 30,000-acre Spanish land grant, the Stearns Rancho company ran cattle and horses and raised barley on what is now Huntington Beach. Around 1890, the city was called Shell Beach, becoming Pacific City in 1901 when P.A. Stanton formed a local syndicate and bought 40 acres along the beach. In 1904, the town name was changed to Huntington Beach in honor of H.E. Huntington, who sponsored the extension of the Pacific Electric Railway to the seaside village. Incorporated in 1909, Huntington Beach remained a quiet seaside town until the famous oil boom in the 1920s. Almost every major oil company began producing oil from the rich field below. Wells sprang up literally overnight and in less than a month, the town grew from 1,500 to 5,000 people, and many folks got rich instantly. In fact, many east coasters who were given lots of Huntington Beach land years before as part of an encyclopedia sales promotion now found themselves scrambling to find the deeds that would make many of them rich. In addition to the oil production, Huntington Beach also became known for its agricultural strengths. Produce like lima beans, sugar beets, chili peppers, tomatoes, celery, and more grew easily in the fertile soil. From 1957 to 1960, Huntington Beach exploded in size to 25 square miles. In 1956, construction started on the huge Edison generating plant along Pacific Coast Highway and in 1963, the Douglas Aircraft Systems Center opened. This brought major industry to the city, and nearly 8,000 people were employed at the plant. During the 1960’s, Huntington Beach earned

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