Do you ever wonder what once stood on the now empty site on Pacific Coast Highway next to the river as you cross over from Seal Beach into Long Beach? Here’s the story of an infamous past:   The headline in the April 15, 1949 Long Beach Independent read: Angry Seal Beach to Fight Gambling         […]

In 1925, Long Beach had a problem that had been brewing for over ten years. What was the city to do with the colony of seals residing in Alamitos Bay? Fishing had been the main industry at the Bay. The problem for the fishermen was that a seal with a normal appetite consumed eight to […]

It’s always nice to hear from readers, especially those who have information to add to something I’ve written about.  Such was the case in February 2024, when I heard from Richard Newman, Jr. in Henrico, Virginia. In my book African Americans in Long Beach, and an article I wrote in February 2020 (The Army’s African […]

Southern California is known for its fabled addiction to cults and cultists. One reason given is that in the process of moving westward, the customs, practices, and religious habits of people underwent important changes.  Emma Harding, in her history of spiritualism, believes that cults thrive on the Pacific coast because of the wonderful transparency of […]

What were Thanksgiving celebrations like in Long Beach in years past? There were church services, school plays, turkey dinners, and celebrations on the Long Beach Pike. In 1910, a new organization of Pike business men decided to promote the Pike at Thanksgiving. Participants in the 1910 “Chanticleer Celebrations” were asked to dress as chickens, turkeys […]

In researching my latest book, Amador City: A Haunting History, I was surprised to find references to Michael Reese, who I knew once owned the Rancho Los Alamitos. I had never realized there were so many connections between Amador County and Long Beach. I knew the Bixbys and Flints got their start in the county, […]

A broken tombstone rests next to a tree at the Long Beach Municipal Cemetery. It’s hard to make out the name – Charles Tamma, Famma, Wamna – or the death date Jan. 22, 1879 or 1870? Intrepid taphophile Duke Fuller contacted me wanting help in placing it on the grave where it belonged. I’m a […]

I became fascinated with the story behind Michael Reese (1817-1878) one time owner of the Rancho Los Alamitos, when I found he had made one of his fortunes in gold mining. In researching my latest book Amador City: A Haunting History his name appeared as an investor in Amador City’s Keystone mine. —      In […]

In Part 1 of this series, I traced the history of the Rancho Los Alamitos, carved from the vast Rancho Los Nietos in 1804, to Jose Figueroa, to American Abel Stearns. Part 2 dealt with landlord Michael Reese. Here’s more.      Following Rancho Los Alamitos’ owner Michael Reese’s death in 1878, W. S. Lyon, […]

This is the last of a four part series on the history of the Rancho Los Alamitos.  Part three told of the partnership which John W. Bixby, I. A. Hellman and the Flint-Bixby Company (comprised of Jotham & Lewellyn Bixby and Thomas Flint) entered into in July 1881, to develop the rancho. The purpose of […]