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PAGE 22 THE ARGONAUT April 9, 2015
Pictures
of our pasT Travel back in time through the archives of the Marina del Rey Historical Society
An Amphicar cruises the harbor in 1971. Photo by Greg Wenger
This 1956 photo shows the wetlands and farmland north of Ballona Creek that would later be dredged to create Marina del Rey.
Many Marina del Rey apartment complexes rented exclusively to unmarried tenants in the 1960s and ‘70s.
The dredging of Marina del Rey harbor’s main channel and Basin A was already well underway in 1960.
Saving Marina del Rey’s History Among the very first people to live in Marina del Rey, Willie Hjorth and her husband John took up residence on a 36-foot catamaran docked outside the Tahiti Marina apartments in 1963. In short order she was leading the local live-aboard association, heading up the women’s sailing program at the California Yacht Club and helping launch what would become the Marina del Rey Holiday Boat Parade.
Greg Wenger arrived with his family in late 1969 and quickly established himself as the marina’s leading photographer, documenting harbor life for corporate clients, county government and a plucky local media start-up called The Argonaut. As time went by they amassed thousands of pictures — Hjorth’s event albums, Wenger’s life’s work, gifted photo collections and a trove of L.A. County images dating back to the 1890s.
In 2007, Hjorth and Wenger officially incorporated the nonprofit Marina del Rey Historical Society to not only protect that collection, but to also grow it and share it with the world. Last year the society — now run by an 18-member board — opened a public gallery at Fisherman’s Village and produced “Images of America: Marina del Rey,” a 128-page photo book that includes many of the images included in this issue.
Call (310) 701-1073 or visit marinadelreyhistoricalsociety.org to learn more. PAGE 14 THE ARGONAUT April 9, 2015
— Joe Piasecki
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Marina del Rey is beginning to take shape in this aerial photograph from January 1961.
A duck hunter and his dogs stalk the mouth of Ballona Creek in this 1880s photograph. Engineers contained the creek with concrete walls in the 1930s. Photo by H. F. Rile
May the tallest hair win: Miss Marina del Rey is crowned in January 1967.
Phyllis Diller helps Warehouse Restaurant founder Burt Hixson feed his fish in this 1970s photo hanging on the restaurant’s wall.
This 1968 cover of The Dinghy, an early Marina del Rey boating magazine, features photographs taken during a 1963 storm surge that smashed boat slips and threatened public perception of the harbor’s viability. Construction of the marina’s protective seawall began later that year.
The Marina City Club was first developed as housing for Hughes Aircraft Company employees in the late 1960s, but converted to apartments in the early 1970s (and later condos). This 1974 photograph shows construction of the Marina City Club’s east tower.
(Continued on page 18) April 9, 2015 THE ARGONAUT PAGE 15
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(Continued from page 15) A woman and a live tiger stand outside Jamaica Bay Inn to promote the 1969 Marina Fair, one of many community festivals produced by local Rotarians and the former Marina del Rey Chamber of Commerce. Oil rigs can be seen lining the future Marina Peninsula in the background of this January 1960 photograph of initial dredging work to create Marina del Rey harbor.
Actor William Boyd, better known as cowboy hero Hopalong Cassidy, operated a Western-themed amusement park called Hoppyland in the 1950s near landlocked Lake Los Angeles — an area that would later become Mother’s Beach.
Admiralty Way was all but empty when the upscale restaurant Charley Brown’s — now Tony P’s Dockside Grill — was built in 1965.
L.A. County Supervisor Burton Chace (right), the founding father of Marina del Rey, takes part in the early 1960s groundbreaking ceremony for the boat launch ramp on Fiji Way. With him are Marina Director Arthur Will (center), the harbor’s chief administrative officer from 1963 to 1971, and Aubrey Austin, then chairman of the newly convened Small Craft Harbor Commission.
PAGE 18 THE ARGONAUT April 9, 2015
The now-defunct Marina del Rey Theatre, located off Admiralty Way near what’s now the Waterside at Marina del Rey shopping center, began showing movies in the early 1970s.
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Good Times Past Do you remember these Marina del Rey hotspots? It was the age of gold chains and “swinging singles.” From the late 1960s to the early ‘80s, Marina del Rey was party central. Many of the new apartment buildings that sprouted up around the harbor rented only to unmarried tenants, and early Marina del Rey nightlife would have given today’s Sunset Strip a run for its beer money. While names like The Black Whale, Pieces of Eight, Ye Olde Sea Chest, Donkin’s Inn, 2nd Storey and The Basement may not ring a bell with 21st-century twentysomethings, these hotspots were all the rage back in the day. Do you remember dining, drinking and dancing at any of the places pictured below? If so, help preserve Marina del Rey’s alternative history and share your memories with The Argonaut. Email joe@argonautnews.com by Thursday, April 16, for a chance to win a prize and see your story in print.
This undated photograph recently retrieved from county government storage was likely taken during the April 10, 1965, dedication of Marina del Rey. L.A. County Supervisors Warren M. Dorn and Frank G. Bonelli appear left of the dedication plaque, with Burton W. Chace and Aubrey Austin to the right.
Both oil derricks and homes dot the future Marina Peninsula west of Grand Canal in this aerial photograph from February 1959, five years and two months prior to the formal dedication of Marina del Rey.
Though extensively remodeled, the Jamaica Bay Inn remains a Marina del Rey icon at Mother’s Beach. Fiasco was a casual restaurant and bar on Admiralty Way in the spot now occupied by Café Del Rey.
The Basement dance club and 2nd Storey restaurant, later The Red Onion, is now the FantaSea Yacht Club on Admiralty Way.
Frankie Avalon dazzled a Burton Chace Park crowd during the 2011 Marina del Rey Summer Concert Series, a seasonal tradition that broke annual attendance records last year by drawing some 32,000 music fans to the park. (Photo by Mike Yokotake / L.A. County)
is today, was ere C & O Cucina The Black Whale, wh West Washington Boulevard. on a fun seafood joint
April 9, 2015 THE ARGONAUT PAGE 19
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Marina del Rey officially opened to the public with a formal dedication ceremony on April 10, 1965. Here’s a sampling of what else was happening in America that year: Lyndon Baines Johnson Library and Museum
1 President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the Voting Rights Act following the Civil Rights marches on Selma. 2 Edmund “Pat” Brown — father of current Gov. Jerry Brown — was governor of California. 3 “My Fair Lady” won eight Academy Awards, including Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor and Best Actress. 4 “A Charlie Brown Christmas” made its television debut. 1
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6 With the help of pitchers Sandy Koufax (pictured) and Don Drysdale, the Los Angeles Dodgers defeated the Minnesota Twins to win the World Series. 7 President Johnson increased the U.S. presence in Vietnam from 75,000 to 125,000 ground troops and accelerate the draft, prompting widespread anti-war protests. 8 The Beatles released “Rubber Soul,” hit the silver screen with “Help!” and performed the first-ever stadium rock concert at Shea Stadium.
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3 New York Public Library Picture Collection
Photo by Herman Hiller / Library of Congress
5 Malcom X was assassinated in New York City.
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9 A $2 bill had the same buying power as $14.90 does today, according to the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics. Advertising icon Poppin’ Fresh, 10 a.k.a. the Pillsbury Doughboy, was born.
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The Watts Riots erupted 12 in Los Angeles. “I Dream of Jeannie” and 13 “Get Smart” aired on television for the first time.
Library of Congress photo
General Motors set an automobile 11 sales record with the Chevy Impala, selling more than one million of them in the U.S. 8
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The first editions of Sylvia Plath’s 14 “Ariel,” Jerzy Kosinski’s “The Painted Bird” and Norman Mailer’s “An American Dream” were published. Sonny & Cher had their first hit: 15 “I Got You Babe.” 14 PAGE 10 THE ARGONAUT April 9, 2015
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