WELCOME TO MARINA DEL REY HISTORICAL SOCIETY
Dear Members, Friends, and Archivists,
A very Happy New Year to all of you. It’s a very exciting time at the Marina del Rey Historical Society as we not only begin a new year, but start our third decade in the preservation of the Marina’s history.
In 2018, we completed the expansion project of our exhibit space and gift shop in Fisherman’s Village. In 2019, we moved our archives to a new, larger climate-controlled facility in order to organize our historical items for digitization and ultimately, for website retrieval. Although the Marina del Rey Historical Society Gallery has been temporarily closed due to the Covid-19 pandemic, we look forward to reopening soon.
MDRHS thanks our archivist intern, Anna Parmelee, who joined us last year and helped us tremendously in organizing our archives and taught us the best solutions in the preservation process. This helped to curate The Dinghy magazines, (the Marina’s first local newspaper) to prepare them for digitization. LA as Subject (LAAS) an umbrella archivist association sponsored by the University of Southern California (USC), acquired a grant to hire three archivists to train interns on the digitization process. They are now digitizing The Dinghy’s for us so that they will be accessible on our website in the near future. With the help of Supervisor Janice Hahn we acquired funding to purchase a flatbed scanner to do digitization in-house which moves us one step closer to opening a research center for public use.
This past February, we hosted a live Marina del Rey history Speaker Series presentation with George Drury Smith, founder of Beyond Baroque and former Associate Publisher at The Argonaut.
Your support in the past has brought us a long way towards preserving the history of Marina del Rey through gathering documents, photographs, and oral histories. Our board of directors recognizes the special need to digitize our archives for ultimate storage and retrieval for public access and research.
This is our fundraising request for 2020. Funding is needed for additional scanning services as well as to upgrade our website.
Your donations have been critical in the past, to fund our efforts to bring reality to our preservation goals, to enhance community pride, and to increase public awareness of Marina del Rey. You may donate online at the bottom of this page.
With sincerest appreciation for your support,
Howard Wenger, President , Marina del Rey Historical Society
Howard Wenger
Marina del Rey Historical Society at Fisherman's Village
Willie Hjorth and Marina del Rey Historical Society Exhibit at ArtSea
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Academic intern and researcher Anna Parmalee
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MARINA DEL REY HISTORY SLIDE SHOWS FROM OUR COLLECTION:
Click on any image to launch a slide show with more information per image
Venice beach on the left, the future site of Playa Vista along Ballona Creek, and current Playa del Rey on the right
Marina del Rey
The name Marina del Rey first appears in a 1938 Feasibility Study
The name Marina del Rey
1964 Westways Magazine details the history of the area soon to be Marina del Rey
1964 Westways Magazine
More of the article from Westways Magazine January 1964
More from Westways
Overlay of a 1923 map of the future Marina del Rey
Overlay of a 1923 map
A hunter and his dogs huntng ducks in the 1880s Centinela Creek
1880s Centinela Creek
Venice Peninsula Oilfields in the 1930s. Flooded farmlands were tilled to promote drainage and grow crops.
Venice Peninsula Oilfields 1930s
1937 shot of Ballona Creek as an enclosed flood control channel
1937 shot of Ballona Creek
1938 The Venice Peninsula and future Marina del Rey
1938 The Venice Peninsula
December 11, 1957: Marina del Rey Dedication and Ground Breaking
1957: Marina del Rey Dedication and Ground Breaking
Marina del Rey begins with construction of the North and South Jetties
North and South Jetties
1959: Last views of the swamp prior to the harbor construction
1959: Last views of the swamp
1967 Seawall construction showing oil derricks on Venice Peninsula in the background.
1967: Seawall construction
Highway 1 still runs along the beachfront as the Main Channel is dredged. It will soon be routed around the harbor.
Highway 1
Dredging of the Main Channel & Basin A
Dredging of the Main Channel
Basins A, B, C & D Emerge
Basins A, B, C, & D
1961: Dredging of Basins D & E. Outlines of Basins F,G, & H in foreground.
1961: Dredging
Fuel dock is the first construction on Bora Bora Way.
Fuel dock
United States Coast Guard Station Marina del Rey under construction. Families drove on empty streets to get to the Pieces of Eight Restaurant where a “peg leg pirate” met you at the door.
USCG Station
1963: Fiji Way development
1963: Fiji Way
Villa del Mar Marina in 1963. Without the docks built out the boaters have the kind of room sailors wish they had today!
Villa del Mar Marina
“The Surge” in 1963 – Dinghy magazine story
1963 Dinghy magazine story
Pieces of Eight Restaurant (now Whiskey Red’s) Storm Damage from the 1963 Surge
Storm Damage
U. S. Army Corps of Engineers construct a scale model of Marina del Rey to study wave action after “The Surge”
Scale model of MdR
Temporary Baffles were build in the Marina in 1963 to protect the harbor from further storm damage. Businesses came back and boats went back in the water.
Temporary Baffles 1963
U.S. Coast Guard Cutter CG 82338 near the baffles
CG 82338
1963 Breakwater construction. Shows a great view of the actual wave action.
1963 Breakwater construction
The breakwater protection allowed the development of land “moles” and marinas to continue
The breakwater
1965 Map of Marina del Rey shows the Breakwater in place
1965 Map of Marina del Rey
Hughes Aircraft complex with the Pacific Electric Railway (the white arrow) running along a path that would be great to have today to mitigate traffic.
Hughes Aircraft
Just up the street from all the construction, the infamous Spruce Goose was build by Howard Hughes in 1944
Spruce Goose in 1944
Charlie Brown’s Restaurant (now Tony P’s) bordered by Admiralty Way in 1965
Charlie Brown’s Restaurant
1Congressman Roosevelt © attends the groundbreaking of Neptune Marina in 1965
Groundbreaking of Neptune Marina
California Yacht Club’s REAL Opening Day 1966
California Yacht Club
1969 Fisherman’s Village under construction. The frame of the Marina del Rey “lighthouse” protrudes into its space
1969 Fisherman’s Village
Warehouse Restaurant under construction even as CYC dinghys sit in the club’s mast up storage.
Warehouse Restaurant
Cyrano’s Restaurant under construction. The 2 story building down the street is South Coast Corinthian Yacht club. Its hungry sailors enjoyed the wafts of garlic dinners in the afternoons from Cyranos.
Cyrano’s Restaurant
Marina City Club’s first tower and footprint of two more. The walkway along the water leads to Mother’s Beach.
Marina City Club
MdR’s Mother’s Beach with volleyball nets, picnic and playground full of visitors
MdR’s Mother’s Beach
Ground breaking of Burton Chace Park, August 22, 1972. (from the left) Supervisor Burton Chace, Aubrey Austin, Art Will & Victor Adorian
Ground breaking – Burton Chace Park
Burton Chace Park under construction
Burton Chace Park
The Helmsman, donated to Burton Chace Park by the Helms Bakery. A beautiful wooden ship’s wheel is a favorite for climbing!
The Helmsman statue
Miss Marina del Rey & Court, 1967
Miss Marina del Rey & Court
Sally Field as the “Flying Nun”
Marina del Rey has always been a favorite background for Hollywood. Here is Sally Field as the “Flying Nun” shot in the Marina
Frank Sinatra
Frank Sinatra in Marina del Rey’s Main Channel shooting a 1966 movie Assault on a Queen
Jacques Cousteau
Oceanography’s favorite star, Jacques Cousteau, in Marina del Rey in 1965
The north-south commute along Highway 1 is diverted until this guy had an idea…
Commute along Highway 1 is Diverted
Marina’s “DooDah” Parade
Marina’s “DooDah” Parade
Tall Ships come into the Marina to celebrate special occasions. On this day, a very new Cal 20 sails by.
Tall Ships
The Holiday Boat Parade has been the second Saturday in December annually since 1963
The Holiday Boat Parade
Marina del Rey celebrated 50 years in April 2015 with three days of events
Marina del Rey celebrated 50 years
Special Events for the Marina’s 50th Birthday Celebration including a harbor tour sponsored by the Marina del Rey Historical Society
Special Events
Tall Ships provided harbor tours
Tall Ships
The brig Irving Johnson and Topsail Schooner Amazing Grace provided a mock battle thrilling all in the area
Irving Johnson & Amazing Grace
The Official Dedication Bronze
The Official Dedication Bronze
Today Marina del Rey is still the largest man-made recreational marina in the nation
Marina del Rey
Presented By: The Marina del Rey Historical Society
The Marina del Rey Historical Society
All photographs courtesy of the Marina del Rey Historical Society. All images are © MdRHS 2016
All photographs courtesy MdRHS
The Marina del Rey Historical Society is a 501(3)(c) California nonprofit organization
MARINA DEL REY
HISTORICAL SOCIETY
