California Fool’s Gold — Exploring Huntington Beach

With most of the city by-then developed, population was slowed since the 1970s. During the decade, Huntington Beach (and nearby areas) were terrorized by a serial killer from Long Beach, Randy Steven Kraft, a pro-Vietnam War activist/Barry Goldwater-supporter and bartender at a Huntington Beach gay bar. In 1968 he joined the Air Force but was discharged the following year for being gay and he resumed bar tending. In 1970, Kraft gained the trust of a thirteen-year-old runaway he met on the Huntington Beach pier. After Kraft took him home, drugged and raped him, he went to work and the victim escaped. The victim led the cops to the apartment who found drugs and the victim’s shoes… but since the search was conducted with a warrant, Kraft wasn’t charged. In 1971, Kraft found work at a bottled water plant in HB. That year police found a decomposing body next to the freeway, believed to have been Kraft’s first murder victim. For the next eleven years, dozens of men were murdered, mainly in North Orange County and The Harbor. After his arrest, police recovered a “death list” that claimed 67 victims, 22 of them not found.

Huntington Beach was again rocked by violence when Rodney Alcala kidnapped and murdered a Huntington Beach twelve year old on her way to ballet class in 1979.

In the 1970s, Native activists began fighting for preservation of sites of historical importance, especially theBolsa Chica Wetlands (near the dump site, coincidentally, of one Kraft’s teenage victims). In the 2000s, the developers of the Brightwater Hearthside Homes subdivision began churning up bones and artifacts dating back up to 8,500 years. In 2006 the state approved continued reconstruction as long as the disturbed human remains were reinterred somewhere else. In 2008, the remains of 174 Tongva bodies uncovered by workers who’ve apparently never watched Poltergeist!

HB IN THE 1980s

The 1980s seem to have ushered in even more lawless age in Hungtington Beach.  In 1980, half-sisters Gina Narano, 15, and Cynthia Chandler, 16, disappeared from Huntington Beach and were found the next day on the roadside, shot to death and raped by a former Navy admiral, Douglas Clark. The same year, an 18-year police veteran was jailed in HB after molesting numerous children. In 1981, Tommy Gomez was arrested on two counts for a gang rape of a Huntington Beach woman. In 1984, Elizabeth Hoffschneiderwas brutally raped, beaten and murdered in a case that took over two decades to solve. On Labor Day, in 1986, a massive disturbance happened downtown and near the pier which came to be known as the OP Pro Riot. In the late 1980s, there was a push from law enforcement and for redevelopment. The first obvious sign of a new age was the rebuilding of the pier in January, 1988.

HB IN THE 1990s

 

The 1990s began innocently enough. Tthe first notable local news item came when HB resident Gary Stewart set a new world record for pogo jumping in May, 1990, continuously bouncing for twenty hours and twenty minutes. However, the dark ages continued into the early 1990s.

Wayne Ichija Yoshisato of Huntington Beach was charged with murder in the July, 1990, for fatal beating of his girlfriend’s 14- month old daughter which he committed after raping the mother. In August of the same year, 15-year old Tri Tue Thanh Kha murdered a gang rival at the Huntington Beach Boys and Girls Club. In 1991, however, a poll of Huntington Beach found that 98% of residents viewed their city favorably, despite pollution, traffic and crime.

Though plagued by a troubling level of racially motivated violence (usually against blacks, Asians andLatinos), Huntington Beach seems to have regained peace from truly grisly crime during the latter part of the 1990s. There remain, of course, exceptions. In the 2000s, there was the case of Ian W. Allen, a 23 year-old self-professed Satanist who conspired with his teenage girlfriend to kill her mother by stabbing her over fifty times, stuffing her in a box and dumping it in Newport Harbor. Aside from that case, and still not-infrequent hate crimes and harassment, Huntington Beach has, like most of America, improved since the festering 1980s and early 1990s and remains lower than the national average. Today, the population of Huntington Beach is 77% white, 17% Asian/Pacific Islander and 17% Latino of any race. The top employers are Boeing, Quiksilver and Cambro.

THE MARSHES

 

A large, beautiful marsh, the Bolsa Chica Ecological Reserve, lies between Downtown Huntington Beachand Huntington Harbour and remains largely undisturbed. A $110 million restoration of the wetlands was completed in 2006. There is a small, free parking lot that should not be confused with the adjacent beach parking, which costs $15. Also, there is no crosswalk between the two. The flora and especially fauna change with the seasons and on the early summer day we visited there were pelicans, least terns, clapper rails, two black-necked stillts and maybe some western snowy plovers.

The waters are home to grey smoothound sharks, round stingrays but, most terrifying were the massive, revolting, capitvating slug-like California Sea Hares. There were also many birders snapping pictures. One was accompanied by his young son who carried a small bow and said, “ah juh shi! ah juh shi!” to me.  I’ve heard that before but was unsure of the meaning. South of Downtown are more, smaller marshes; theTalbert, Newland Brookhurst and Magnolia Marshes, which lie behind Huntington State Beach.HUNTINGTON BEACH’S BEACHES 

The northern and southernmost beaches, Bolsa Chica State Beach and Huntington State Beach, respectively, are state parks and only Huntington City Beach is maintained by the town. Camping and RVs are permitted and popular at Bolsa Chica, which is a sandbar separating the Bolsa Chica wetlands from the ocean. A portion known as “the cliffs” is home to a dog beach. Sunset Beach is maintained by Orange County and lies between the ocean and the city’s marinas.

Huntington City Beach is popular with sand volleyball players, surfers and huge crowds of others. It also boasts the pier, which provides lovely views of the city, the oil rigs, the aquamarine-colored waves and the smokestacks in the distance. Huntington State Beach borders the southern marshes and ends at the mouth of the Santa Ana River.

SURFING SURF CITY

With four beaches and a consistent surf, Huntington Beach has long been popular with practitioners of the sport. The first road large redwood board in the 1920s. In 1955, Gordon Duane opened the city’s first surf shop, Gordie Surfboards.

 

In 1959, the first West Coast Surfing Championships were held in Huntington Beach. The Huntington Beach Surf Club was established in 1963 with over seventy members. Huntington Beach, in fact, has trademarked the nickname “Surf City.” The U.S. Open of Surfing and Beach Games are held in Huntington Beach.

Huntington Beach is also home to the International Surfing Museum, which features the Surfers’ Hall of Fame, surf-related exhibits and, on Sundays, the back lot hosts surf bands.

On the day of our visit, we were treated to the sounds of Tower 21 and 3 Balls of Fire.

Outside the museum is the Huntington Beach Surfing Walk of Fame honoring those who’ve contributed to surf culture.

MAIN STREET

 

By the 1980s, Main Street Huntington Beach had acquire a reputation as a haven for drug-dealing, prostitution and violent crime. In 1983, the city approved a redevelopment plan and condos and businesses began popping up in the years that followed. Tourists and locals descended on the revived district and in April of 2011, the LA Times reported that revenue for the area was by then twenty times what it had been in 1988.

The area is the site of many of Huntington Beach’s local events. Every Tuesday, Surf City Nights includes food booths and live, free entertainment. In March, the Beachcruiser Meet showcases hundreds of classic cars in the Main and Pier parking lot. Miracle on Main Street is the name for the Main Street Christmas Tree lighting ceremony. The third Wednesday of every month there’s the Huntington Beach Art Walk. Chili at the Beach is a chili cook-off which benefits the Children’s Hospital of Orange County (CHOC) and occurs during the Fathers’ Day Weekend.

However, when the sun goes down the families go home and a three-block stretch of Main Street takes on a different character, that of the “Jersey Shore of the West.” Although the alcohol sales help fuel the economy, Huntington Beach is ranked No. 1 in victims killed and injured in alcohol-involved traffic accidents among cities its size in the state. Even though the sun was still up on the day of my visit, I did witness an SUV packed with young men pumping their fists to trance, presumably in anticipation of the night’s drunken debauchery (e.g. beer pong, more fist pumping, public urination). The cops even have a special code for drunks breaking into someone else’s house to pass out because it’s so common, a “Downtown 459.”

THE HUNTINGTON BEACH PIER

 

Main street ends (or continues) onto the Huntington Beach Pier, the longest municipal concrete pier in California. It’s another popular site for Huntington Beach events. Every year in May, the Sunset Wine Tasting at the Pier features wines from around California and raises money to benefit AltaMed’s Huntington Beach Community Clinic, which serves thousands of uninsured and medically underserved patients. The following two days, the Annual Duck-a-thon is held in the water off the pier, a rubber ducky race.

On the day of our visit, the DJs in a booth representing KIIS FM hyped the crowd of four children.

At the mouth of the pier, Pier Plaza, street performers wowed the crowds and drum circle-types pounded away.

PARKS – THE OTHER ATTRACTIONS

 

Huntington Beach was a very large, beautiful Central Park. The parking lot is landscaped with attractive xeric plants (nice!) and there are fairly developed forests with large Blue Gum Eucalyptus.

It’s also the location of the Richard Neutra and Dion Neutra-designed Huntington Beach Public Library(which was closed on the day of our visit). A Concours d’Elegance (a prestigious car show) is held at Central Park in June and benefits the public library. On the other side of the street is the Huntington Central Park Equestrian Center.

On the day we visited there was a large crowd gathered for live music under an inflatable band shell.

HB EVENTS

In addition to the aforementioned events, Huntington Beach hosts a biathlon in July. A Fourth of July parade has been held annually since 1904. The Cruise of Lights Boat Tour is held in the Huntington Harbour neighborhood. The annual Kite Festival is held in late February. An informal “Donut Derelicts” car show occurs every Saturday morning at the intersection of Adams and Magnolia Street. Huntington Beach also hosts the National Professional Paintball League Super 7 Paintball Championships in March.

THE SHOPPING

There are two major shopping areas in Huntington Beach, Bella Terra and Old World Village. Bella Terra is a large, outdoor shopping center. In its amphitheater, live music is performed regularly. There are also regularly-held special events for kids. It opened in 1996 and was built on the ruins of the old, indoor mall, theHuntington Beach Center.

In the shadow of the Towers at Bella Terra, a group of tall business complexes, is the Old World Village… a much older outdoor mall with a German theme (that can feel, during slow times, like a Bavarian ghost town). The 50 buildings were built, I believe, in 1978.

It’s just the sort of fading, charming simulacrum that I like. It hosts numerous events including Dachshund Races, classic car shows, RICO’s Comedy Revival Show!, the Plum Festival, German Heritage Day and, biggest of all, Oktoberfest.

As I wondered the winding, shady streets I saw only one other soul… sitting still as stone on a bench… kind of creepy in an abandoned-theme-park kind of way …and a total HB gem! Read my Block By Blockpost, Kitsch and Kultur: Exploring SoCal Bavaria, for more.

HB EATS

For a city it’s size, Huntington Beach has an insane amount of places to eat. The people love to eat and, not surprisingly, it hosts the annual  Taste of Huntington Beach.  Perhaps the most celebrated joint was theGolden Bear, which opened in 1929 and became a popular nightclub in 1963. It hosted the likes of BB King, Janis Joplin, Steve Martin, Charles Bukowski and Stevie Ray Vaughan. Unfortunately it was demolished in 1986.Especially well-represented are Italian, Mexican and sandwich joints seem to be especially well-represented but in the HB, eating, drinking, music, TV all seem to go hand in hand so here’s a let of eateries and drinkeries of different stripes. We, nonetheless, ate at Bodhi Tree, a nice, tasteful and tasty Vietnamese joint.

Other options include: Adami, Alberto’s, Aloha Grill, Aloha Hawaiian BBQ, An’s Restaurant, Avila’s El Ranchito, Aztecas, Bagelmania & Coffee House, Baci, Baci di Roma Trattoria, Baja Sharkeez, Basilico’s Pasta e Vino, BBQ Bistro, Beach Burgers, Beach Pit BBQ, Beachfront 301, Bella Roma,Bhodi Tree Cafe, Black Bull Chop House, Big Chopsticks, Buffalo Wings ‘N Things, Bukhara, Bun & Burger, Buon Gusto, Burtucci’s New York Pizza, Cafe Enchante, Caffe Gazelle, Cancun,

Capones Italian Cucina, Casa Jimenez, Catalina Fish Kitchen, Catch of the Day, Cavallino Ristorante,Centerfield Sports Bar, Champa, Cherry On Top, Chicago Ribs, China Kitchen, Charo Chicken,Chronic Tacos, Coach’s Deli, Coache’s Mediterranean Grill, Cobantigua Cafe, Corner Bakery,Crabby’s Boat House, Crivello Ristorante Italiano, Cucina Alessa, Daimon, Daphne’s California Greek,De Simone Bakery & Delicatessen, Deli-licious, Deville, Digg’s, Don Jose’s Mexican Restaurant,

Don the Beachcomber, Don Ramon’s, Dukes, Dwight’s Beach Concession, East Winds Asian Cuisine, Eat at Joe’s, El Chavito, Eggroll King, Endless Food & Fun, Esther’s Place, Euro Market Bakery & Deli, Fiesta Grill & Catering, Fiesta Grill 2, Fish Camp, Fitzgerald’s Pub, Five Guys Burger and Fries, Frank’s Big O Pizza, Fred’s Mexican Cafe, Fresca’s, Fritzankotters, Fuji’s Famous Burger, Gallagher’s Pub & Grill, George’s, Golden Chopsticks, Gong’s Chinese Food, Good Day Cafe, Great Wok,

Green Rice Kabob, Hank’s West Pizza, Harry’s Cafe, Harvey’s Steakhouse, Hashigo Sushi, Hero’s Pub, Himalayan Grill, Honeybaked Ham Co, Hot and Spicy Thai, Hot Off the Grill, House of Brews, Huckleberry’s Famous Sandwiches, Huntington Beach Beer Company & Restaurant,  Hurricane’s Bar & Grill, In-N-Out Burger, Inca Gourmet, Irassae, Islands, Jan’s Health Bar, Jersey Mike’s Subs, Joe’s Sushi, John’s Philly Grille, Johnny’s Saloon, Jon’s Coffee Shop, Joy Sushi, Ka Shabu,

Kathy May’s Restaurant, Kelly’s Donuts and Burgers, Kiku Restaurant, Killarney Pub & Grill, King’s Fish House, King’s Pizza, Kirby’s Surf City Pizza, La Brique Steakhouse, La Choza Restaurant, La Fontana Ristorante, LaRocco’s Pizzeria, Lamppost Pizza, Las Barcas, La Capilla, La Casita, La Petite Baquette, Lee’s Lucky Wok, Linda’s Mexican Restaurant, Lino’s Pizzeria, Longboard, Los Primos Cantina, Lotus Chinese Eatery, Lou’s Oak Oven Barbecue, Lucci’s Deli, Luggatti’s, Luigi’s,

Malibu Fish Grill, Mama’s on 39, Mangia-Mangia, Mangiamo Gelato Caffe, Mario’s, Mario’s Fiesta Maya, Market Broiler, Marlin Bar and Grill, Massimo’s Pizza, Matsu Restaurant, Mazara Trattoria, Mike Thai Bros Bistro, Minimex Everywhere, Mitasie 3, Molcajete Grill, Mona Lisa Italian Cucina, Monkey House Cafe, Mother’s Market & Kitchen, Mr P’s Espresso Italiano Caffe, My Place, Niya, No Ka Oi, Nonna Lucci’s, Norm’s, Normita’s Surf City Taco, O’Connell’s, OC Juice N Gyro, Ocean Pacific Market,

Oceans Sushi & Oyster Lounge, Oggi’s Pizza & Brewing Company, Olive Pit, Old World German Restaurant, Pacific Coast Hot Dogs, Pacific Crust Sandwiches, Pancho Frijoles, Panda Palace, Park Bench Café, Pee Wee’s Famous Hot Dogs and Hamburgers, Peet’s Coffee & Tea, Pei Wei, Pelican Isle,Perq’s, Perry’s Pizza, Peruvian Rotisserie Chicken, Pete’s Sunset Grille, Photastic!, Phuket Thai Restaurant, Pick Up Stix, Pizza D’oro, Pizzarito, Polly’s Pies, Porky’s Pizza, RA Sushi Bar, Randazzo,

Rathskeller, Red Chair Lounge, Robek’s Juice, Rockin’ Baja Coastal Cantina, Rockin’ Crepes, Rodrigo’s, Sakura Shabu Shabu, Sakurai, Sammy’s, Sancho’s Tacos, Sandy’s Beach Grill, Sango Sushi, Sea Siam, Sebastiani’s Italian Bistro, 2nd Floor Food ART Drinks, Secret Spot, Shades, Shima, Shogun, Shooters Sports Bar and Grill, Silk Thai Cuisine, Slapfish Truck, Slow Fish, Soya, Spark Woodfire Grill, St George Pizza, Suds Surf City Sports Grill, Sugar Shack Cafe, Sullivan,

Sunny’s Waffle House, Super Mex, Sushi on Fire, Suhsi Top, Sushi Ya, Sweet Elle Café, Sweet O Donuts, T’Kila, Tacone Flavor Grill, Tacos Jerez, Tacos el Chavito, Tacos Jerez, Taqueria Don Victor, Taste of France, Thai Gulf, Thai Pepper, Thai Wave, The Bread Crumb, The Californian, The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf, The Corner, The Donuttery, The Firepit, The Gourmet Crepe Company, The Loft, The Orange Dog, The Seafood Zone, Three Monkies Japanese Kitchen, TK Burgers, Todai, Tokyo Deli,

The Wok Experience, Tower 15 Pizzeria, Tsunami, Tumbleweeds, Tuna Town, 25 Degrees, Two Brothers Pizza, Valentino’s, Vittorio’s, Waba Grill, Wahoo’s Fish Taco, Whata Lotta Pizza, Woody’s Diner, Z Pizza, Zimzala and Zubies Dry Dock.

NIGHTLIFE

 

With booze, karaoke and food mixing so readily, perhaps it should come as less of a surprise that there are far fewer clubs than bar & grills vying for nigh owls. There’s the gay Ibiza Bar & Nightclub, the strip clubSimply Seductive and, my favorite, the mostly Asian crowd-attracting Avec Nightclub, where Vietnamese New Wave is often played and danced to.

THE HUNTINGTON BEAT

For a city as associated with surfing, it may come as a bit of a surprise that the surf music of the 1950s and ’60s didn’t produce any major acts that I’m aware of. It was mentioned, however, in “Surfer Joe” by The Surfaris as well as “Surfin’ Safari” by The Beach Boys. Oh, and Ashlee Simpson‘s music video for “La La” was filmed in Huntington Beach. HB did produce a number of famous punk bands, however, including The Vandals, The Offspring and Reel Big Fish. There are also bands that drew upon punk as well as other genres including bands like The Dirty Heads, Hellogoodbye and Avenged Sevenfold. Huntington Beach-born musicians include Matt Costa and Keri Kelli. Other Huntington Beach bands include Millionaires and smaller acts. DJ Culture is Huntington Beach’s primary electronic music store and Vinyl Solution is the main punk store.

FILM(ED) IN HB

 

The Surf Theatre was a famous and beloved theater located near the pier that showed independent surf films including Endless Summer and Fiver Summer Stories. It was owned and operated by Hugh Larry Thomas from 1961 until it was demolished in 1989.

Today, the SoCal Independent Film Festival takes place every September. The Southland’s PBS station,KOCE-TV, is broadcast from the city’s Golden West College Campus. HB was the subject of the TruTVseries Ocean Force – Huntington Beach.

It’s also served as a filming location for All that I Need, BoardRoom, Children of the X-Files, Convict, Frost/Nixon, Hallowed, Kate So Far, Lava Lounge, Locked In, Marmaduke, 90210, Pink Lemonade, Raspberry & Lavender, Rats & Bullies, Route 66, Slasher, Starsky & Hutch, Surf Nazis Must Die, The Born Losers, The Hog, The Legends of Nethiah, The Living Curl, The OC, The Plotters, Triangle Square and Waterworld.

HB is also the birthplace of actresses Amy Grabow and Bridgette Monet (born Dana Kunath Height).

WEIRDO CHRISTIANS

One last note about my day in HB. When I returned to the CARDIS, someone had written in the dust on the rear window, “Jesus loves u… doubt it”, “wash me” and “the power of Christ compels you.” Huntington Beach has a history of “Jesus freaks” too. In 1968, when his mother died, her son David Berg took control of her tiny Christian and Missionary Alliance congregation and began recruiting hippie Teens for Jesus. In 1969, he changed the name to The Children of God and left Huntington Beach. By 1970, the Children of God were receiving guidance (via Berg) from Abrahim, a 13th century Bulgarian king. In the early 1970s, Berg started pimping female followers for Christ in a practice called “Flirty Fishing.” They’ve since called themselves The Family of Love, The Family and now, The Family International… could this have been their work? or was it that Korean family who parked next to me… anyway, message received. Till next time, shaka brah!

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To vote for any communities you’d like to see covered in California Fool’s Gold, name them in the comments. If you’d like a bit of inspiration, there are primers for:

• Imperial County
• Kern County
• Los Angeles County
  • Angeles Forest
  • the Antelope Valley
  • the Channel Islands
  • Downtown
  • the Eastside
  • the Harbor
  • Hollywood
  • Mideast Los Angeles
  • Midtown
  • Northeast Los Angeles
  • Northwest Los Angeles
  • the Pomona Valley
  • the San Fernando Valley
  • the San Gabriel Valley
  • the Santa Monica Mountains
  • the South Bay
  • South Los Angeles’s Eastside
  • South Los Angeles’s Westside
  • Southeast Los Angeles
  • the Verdugos
  • the Westside
• Orange County
  • North County
  • South County
• Riverside County
• San Bernardino County
• San Diego County
  • San Diego City
• San Luis Obispo County
• Santa Barbara County
• Ventura County

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Eric Brightwell is an adventurer, essayist, rambler, explorer, cartographer, and guerrilla gardener who is always seeking paid writing, speaking, traveling, and art opportunities. He is not interested in generating advertorials, cranking out clickbait, or laboring away in a listicle mill “for exposure.”

Brightwell has written for Angels Walk LA, Amoeblog, Boom: A Journal of California, diaCRITICS, Hidden Los Angeles, and KCET Departures. His art has been featured by the American Institute of Architects, the Architecture & Design Museum, the Craft Contemporary, Form Follows Function, Los Angeles County Store, the book Sidewalking, Skid Row Housing Trust, and 1650 Gallery. Brightwell has been featured as subject in The Los Angeles Times, Huffington Post, Los Angeles Magazine, LAist, CurbedLA, Eastsider LA, Boing Boing, Los Angeles, I’m Yours, and on Notebook on Cities and Culture. He has been a guest speaker on KCRW‘s Which Way, LA?, at Emerson College, and the University of Southern California.

Brightwell is currently writing a book about Los Angeles and you can follow him on Ameba, Duolingo, Facebook, Goodreads, Instagram, Mubi, and Twitter.

Art prints of Brightwell’s maps are available from Saatchi Art and 1650 Gallery. Other merchandise is available on Tee Public.

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