The OBHS will be taking December off, but we will be back in Jan. 2022. Catch up on your history at: Videos & OBHS YouTube. Coming in December- see OBHS’s “Spirit of OB’s Christmas Past” 2020 film. This holiday treat brings you the experience and the spirit of OB’s Christmas Past. Decades of O.B. historic photos of Christmas Trees, Sandcastles, T-Shirts, the parades, and more. Relive the fun-filled blast from the past! through our cherished O.B. holiday events.
Spirit of OB’s Christmas Past, ©Ray Blavatt Cartoon

OBHS presented Zoom Teleconference Nov. 18, 2021,“Ripples in Time” with Dr. Russell Low.

An old photograph may be much more than just a record of a place and time. An historic photo might provide a clue which unlocks a story from the last century.  San Diego radiologist Dr. Russell Low told just such a story, part of his own family’s history, in his book, Three Coins:  A Young Girl’s Story of Kidnappings, Slavery, and Romance in 19^th Century America.  In his lecture, Ripples in Time, Dr. Low shared his decades-long search for his own family’s roots. Also, how so many people who came to this country, by choice or not, faced hardships in search of the “American Dream”. Info. or to buy the book “Three Coins”. Book Sales go to: Nursing Scholarship to Cal State San Marcos Link to website: https://www.russlow.com/ 

October 21, 2021– The Ocean Beach Historical Society presented a Teleconference: Archives and Resources of the San Diego History Center, by History Center President and CEO, Bill Lawrence,
San Diego History Center CEO Bill Lawrence, discussed some of the new ways the vast treasures of the San Diego History Center archive are being made available during these historic times, and provided some tips and tricks for diving into O.B.’s past. Bill also revealed his own personal history and San Diego journey that centers on the Ocean Beach community.

The Ocean Beach Historical Archives were also talked about.

Sept. 16, 2021– The Ocean Beach Historical Society presented a great ZOOM presentation on the “The Lost and Found Balboa Park Gardens of Kate Sessions” by Nancy Carol Carter. See Youtube of the program. The Lost and Found Balboa Park Gardens of Kate Sessions

See Link: Postcard from the Past – Part 1

OBHS presented: Zoom Teleconference, Aug. 19, 2021 was a dream for old postcard fans and collectors.
“Every picture tells a story, don’t it?” San Diego is a region rich in visual diversity and destination type locales. As such, scenic San Diego has generated thousands of picture postcards over the decades. We would love to share them with you!  We have cards depicting Wonderland, Sunset Cliffs, The Theosophical Society, Balboa Park and various other excellent San Diego subjects. Did you realize that there was an actual “Age of Postcards?” Or that many people used to make their own originals? Thank you to Ocean Beach Historical Society postcard expert and collector Jonnie Wilson, and postcard geek Eric DuVall, we examined this fascinating niche in the historical record. 

Over 40 people came to hear Field Trip to the Presidio with the Ocean Beach Historical Society and Richard Carrico, Thursday evening July 15^th at 6:00 pm. We walked the grounds of the old Presidio de San Diego. During this unique experience Richard discussed the layout and significance of the very spot “Where California Began.”  We met in the parking lot of the Serra Museum (immediately west and down hill, in front of the Museum) on Presidio Hill.  This field trip event was very informative and a great way to kick off a more normal summer with lovely weather that evening in the par

June 17, 2021- The Ocean Beach Historical Society presented a Zoom presentation“Point Loma’s Lower Lighthouse has been beaming brightly since 1891.” With a $200 million dollar restoration, the beacon is set to continue its mission for another hundred years. Guests joined Ocean Beach Historical Society and Lighthouse volunteer and San Diego Historian Karen Scanlon and her sister Kim, for a lavishly illustrated discussion of San Diego’s Operational Lighthouse, and the Six Lights that have watched over San Diego Bay over the years.  The talk was fun and informational as we looked at this landmark perched on the southwestern-most corner of the continental United States. 

Link to OBHS YouTube Channel: “Anyone Talked History, Today”

May 20, 2021, The Ocean Beach Historical Society Presented a Zoom teleconference: “Anyone Talked History, Today“
Early San Diego historian Winifred Davidson is described as the woman who discovered San Diego’s Lost History. Davidson was a poet, a musician, an educator, a journalist, one of one of San Diego’s first preservationists, and a longtime resident of Point Loma. OBHS presented San Diego historian Alex Bevil with the story of Winifred Davidson via Zoom teleconference. Thanks to Alex we learned how Winifred preserved a great amont of our town’s history.

On Wed. April 28, 2021 Richard Carrico presented the Women of the Presidio, a wonderful Zoom Lecture. The Ocean Beach Historical Society presented Women of the Presidio, Stories rarely told of Colonial and Indigenous Women on the Frontier, with San Diego Historian and OB Favorite, Richard Carrico.  Thank you Richard, and all those that logged onto the lecture.

The Spring of 1924 was an exciting time in Ocean Beach. The San Diego Electric Railway opened their new “High Speed Beach Line,” the #14 train to OB, on the first of May. The commute time from OB to downtown was cut in half!  The community responded with a four-day celebration.  Read about it at:  Rapid Transit Comes to the Beach

Photo: Replacing the old OB Loop of the Point Loma Railroad, San Diego Electric Railway ran one of the first bus lines in San Diego along Voltaire Street. June 1924. SDER