Join the Ocean Beach Historical Society, June 19, at 7:00 PM for A Parable of San Diego’s Bungalow Courts with Dr. Diane Kane at Waters Edge Community, 1984 Sunset Cliffs Blvd., O.B.

A new property type, the bungalow court first appeared in San Diego in the years after the 1915-1917 Panama California Exposition, when thousands of visitors became permanent residents of San Diego. The bungalow court was considered a quick and affordable solution to increase the housing supply during a period of critical shortage. Bungalow courts first appeared in Pasadena in the 1910s to accommodate seasonal tourists. Often located within a few blocks of streetcar lines, bungalow courts offered the convenience, low maintenance, and communal lifestyle of apartment living, with the privacy and open space afforded to single-family houses. Although the centralized landscaped court was a common feature, many variations in architectural style and lot configuration occurred. This lecture will explore the development, proliferation, and eventual decline of the bungalow court in San Diego. What replaced bungalow courts, and how have newer property types fared with livability, communality, and affordability?

OBHS is excited to have Dr. Diane Kane back with us June 19, at 7:00 pm.  A specialist in 19^th and 20^th century American Architecture and Urban Planning, Dr. Kane has taught Western and American art, architectural history and planning to both professional and general interest audiences for over 35 years.  Please join us! All OBHS Programs are FREE!

A large crowd attended the Thurs., May 15, 2025, The Ocean Beach Historical Society featured guest Dr. Tom Demere, who presented The Geology and Paleontology of Sunset Cliffs. at Water’s Edge Community Center, 1984 Sunset Cliffs Blvd., O.B. Tom Demere’s covered the Point Loma Peninsula’s general geologic history and fossils, with a special focus on Sunset Cliffs. Some 120,000 years ago, global sea level was approximately 20 feet higher than today, and the Point Loma landmass was an island (“Loma Island”) separated from the mainland by a combined “Mission Bay-San Diego Bay.” Tectonic forces, together with sea level fluctuation, resulted in uplift of the peninsula, leaving the ancient sea floor high and dry, with a relatively thin veneer of locally derived wind- and stream-deposited sediment that covered the old sea floor. The resulting, nearly level landform (uplifted marine terrace) makes an ideal place for the homes, businesses, roads, and alleys that characterize much of the communities of Ocean Beach and Sunset Cliffs. 
We learned about fascinating aspects of the local geologic history including how and when the resistant bedrock strata exposed in the sea cliffs formed, the time about 20,000 years ago when the global sea level was approximately 400 feet lower than today, the subsequent relatively rapid rise sea level, and the impact that sea level rise has and is having on the sea cliffs. All OBHS programs are FREE!

Thursday, April 17, 2025 at 7 PM, the Ocean Beach Historical Society presented: When Art and Science Met on the Southern California Coast.
In an era before photography, artists and illustrators joined the surveyors and cartographers of the United States Coast Survey in the mid-19^th Century.  Enthusiastic speaker PLNU Professor Rick Kennedy presented When Art and Science Met on the Southern California Coast:  William McMurtrie and James Alden Jr., 1849-1860. At Water’s Edge Community Center, 1984 Sunset Cliffs Blvd. 

The Ocean Beach Historical Society had over 100 guests celebration of Spring at the Wisteria Cottage patio, under the century-old Wisteria vines, on Thurs., March 20. at 4761 Niagara Ave., in O.B. The Wisteria Vines covering the patio were in full bloom! The event included tasty treats, unique historical photos, artifacts, and surprises. This OBHS party & fundraiser was full of fun and showed wonderful photos of O.B.’s history.

Feb. 20, 2025, at Waters Edge Community Center, 1984 Sunset Cliffs Blvd., The Ocean Beach Historical Society presented: Romantic Victorians: Dating, Marriage, and Love. Lecturers Sandee Wilhoit, GQHF Historian, and Jamie Laird, GQHF volunteer, delved into the intricate customs and traditions surrounding dating, marriage, and love in the Victorian Era. Become versed in the strict courting rules, elaborate Victorian flirting techniques like the “Language of the Fan,” and all that was expected when both parties finally said, “I do.” We learned about Romanticism- a movement that gained momentum in the late 1800s- which emphasized inspiration, subjectivity, and the primacy of the individual and how it not only influenced Art and Literature, but also ideas and romantic notions of the Victorian era. Presenters and others dressed in Victorian Valentine Style. All OBHS Programs are FREE!

Eric DuVall gave a great Ocean Beach Historical Society program on JAN. 16, 2025, about “OCEAN BEACH’S HISTORIC CHURCH ROW” at Water Edge Community Center, 1984 Sunset Cliffs Blvd., as we kicked off another year of our Free Monthly lecture series. OBHS president Eric DuVall took a look back at the development of the community center of Ocean Beach, the lovely and iconic gateway, known for over a century as Church Row.  The many churches of Ocean Beach have played a prominent role in the development of the community since OB’s earliest days, several originally holding meetings in tents on the beach!  OB’s Church Row is a rare and wonderful resource which has lasted over 100 years! (Right Photo, Sunset Cliffs’ Church Row in circa 1970).

Thurs., Nov. 21, 2024, Ocean Beach Historical Society Presented “When Death Was a Hitchhiker: El Cajon’s Mass Murder”, by Author Richard Carrico, at at Waters Edge Community Center, 1984 Sunset Cliffs Blvd., O.B.
In 1958, an El Cajon man picked up a sixteen-year-old runaway off of old Highway 80 near Alpine. The young man lived with the Pendergast family for several weeks. Two weeks before Christmas, the troubled young man killed Lois Pendergast and her four children. Come along with local historian and true crime author Richard Carrico as he takes us back to the event that was then described as the “largest mass murder in San Diego history.” All OBHS Programs are FREE!

Oct.17, 2024, Halloween came early… as the Ocean Beach Historical Society presented Macabre Victorians Thurs., at Waters Edge Community Center, 1984 Sunset Cliffs Blvd., O.B. Presenters drew back the dark veil and so we could take a glimpse into Victorian Macabre with Gaslamp Quarter Historical Foundation Historian Sandee Wilhoit and GQHF volunteer Jamie Laird as they delve into some of the bizarre superstitions, intricate customs, and fascinating practices of our Victorian ancestors surrounding mourning and death. What were the highly regarded customs of “dressing for success” for both the new widows, and the new corpses? Did the Victorian obsession with “proper” mourning rituals influence the rise of Spiritualism, and what elements of Spiritualism still captivate our society today? What was the fascination behind “Post-Mortem Photography” and “Mummy Unwrapping Parties?” The answers awaited that night of Victorian Macabre! Some of us dressed in Victorian Macabre. All OBHS programs are free!

All had a great time celebrating with Ocean Beach Historical Society, Thurs., Sept. 19, at Water’s Edge Community Center. We celebrated the Centennial of the Ocean Beach Woman’s Club with presenters Faren Shear and Susan Winkie, and had cake! It is said that “the history of the Ocean Beach Woman’s Club is the History of Ocean Beach.” We found out: Who were these women? Who started the Club in Ocean Beach? How has the group evolved over the last century? Always FREE, come on down!

Aug. 15, 2024, The Ocean Beach Historical Society presented Teresa Burrows who gave a fasinating history of her family in Old Town, “Through my Fathers Eyes, Growing Up in Old Town San Diego”, at Water Edge Community Center, 1984 Sunset Cliff Blvd. All OBHS Programs are Free!