Sunday, April 19, 2009

Wolfdogs, killer waves, and old battleships


On Friday, the OC Reg had a fairly odd story about Orange County Wolfdogs. I had no idea such creatures (dogs with lots of "wolf" in them) existed. I've included two of the OC Reg's pics of these special beasts.

I think I must have one.

It was, of course, a beautiful and breezy, if warm, day here in Orange County. Still, I managed to stare at my computer for hours on end, unearthing more cool Orange County history and photos.

I happened to read that the U.S.S. Colorado, a battleshhip, was anchored off of Laguna Beach in 1933. Don't know why. I do know that it was part of a relief effort immediately after the 1933 Long Beach earthquake.

Below is a photo of the ship in 1924:


Evidently, the ship—i.e., its crew—distinguished itself during World War II, where it served at Tarawa, Kwajalein, Eniwetok, Saipian, Tinian and the Philippines. According to one account, at Tinian, "Japanese batteries unloaded on the Colorado blasting it 22 times with eight-inch shells." (In 1937, Colorado joined the effort to search for Amelia Earhart.)

Here's a great old photo of Laguna Beach (from north of Main Beach, looking south on PCH) taken during the 30s. Who knows, maybe 1933.


I also came across this odd photo (below) of Dana Point in 1928. According to Steve Turnbull, this beach was a "Surfing masterpiece wiped out by the Dana Point Harbor."

Guess so.


At Turnbull's site, I came across the following post card of Laguna Beach (here) taken in 1918. Actually, it is the product of two postcards fused by Turnbull.


(Click on the photo to make it larger.)

Turnbull explains:
I found two old Postcards of Laguna Beach from 1918, photographed by the same photographer (Beckquist), with one looking toward the Marine Laboratory and "Tent City" while the other was looking south, overlooking Main Beach. After looking at them for a while, I suddenly realized that they were taken at the exact same time, and from the exact same position! So I fired up Photoshop and stitched them together. A perfect match produced this wonderful, never before seen panoramic view of Laguna Beach in 1918. The "Pomona College Marine Laboratory" and the "Tent City Cafe" can be seen on the left, with Main Beach on the right. The "Gum Grove" can be seen at Top of the World and many of those trees still exist, while the trees on the hilltop to the right have vanished today.

Here's a shot of the "laboratory" to which Turnbull refers, perhaps taken years earlier.

Roy's obituary in LA Times and Register: "we were lucky to have you while we did"

  This ran in the Sunday December 24, 2023 edition of the Los Angeles Times and the Orange County Register : July 14, 1955 - November 20, 2...