Southern California's Past
Southern California has had phenomenal growth over the years, Throughout the decades, there have always been attractions and entertainment venues that catered to a significant portion of population, old and new. Unfortunately, some of the greatest attractions in southern California have disappeared from the landscape and a collective southern California memory. Tourist attractions, amusement parks, motorsports venues, along with other points of interest, opened to great fanfare. They expanded and in many cases, encountered the encroachment of an expanding population. Many these attractions, which were a part what brought people to the region in the first place, were closed due to regulations or inflated property taxes, Senseless. Many younger people may have no knowledge of what attracted so many to the area over the years.
If you would like to add, or expand anything here, email a note and I will add it. I know there are things I have missed. This can turn into its own web site if continues to grow. My email is: mike@rhga.net
- Many memorable attractions have disappeared from the landscape of southern California.
Marineland of the Pacific, 1954 - 1987, was located at end of the Palos Verdes Peninsula, in Los Angeles County.
Here is a blog explaining why Marineland was closed. Here is a video showing the park in operation in 1957, Marineland of the Pacific 1957. This link is for a 1981 commercial about then Hanna-Barbera's Marineland 1981 Marineland commercial. This link is for a 1984 commercial and news report, 1984 Marineland commercial.
Santa's Village, 1955 - 1998, in Skyforest, CA (near Lake Arrowhead), in the San Bernardino Mountains, is another memorable attraction of the past. The gingerbread houses, characters and rides made for a fun day, especially for young children. If it had been closer to the flat landers in southern California, it might still be in business. The increasingly busy lives of people and the increasing proliferation of distractions throughout the nineties, made the drive to a distant attraction undesirable when Disneyland, Knott's Berry Farm, and Six Flags Magic Mountain are closer. This Santa's Village closed in 1998.
Pacific Ocean Park (POP), 1958 - 1967, was an amusement attraction at the beach in Santa Monica. For an attractions map linked to vintage POP photos, go here.
The Pike and Nu-Pike, 1902 to 1979, was an amusement attraction at the beach in Long Beach. The Pike, along with the Plunge swimming pool, was at the end of the Red Line from Los Angeles. The Nu-Pike was an amusement area named seperately in the late 1940s.
Lion Country Safari, 1970 to 1984, was an unusual attraction where you could drive your car through an 'African Wildlife Preserve.' There is a Lion Country Safari still operating in Florida.
While the previous links are to parks that no longer exist, these links are for one that has evolved over many years, Disneyland.
Southern California Penny Post Cards
- Motorsports has long been a part of Southern California culture, though many of the great venues have been lost to time and encroachment. We have had many years of enjoying various forms of racing in Southern California:
Lions Drag Strip, Wilmington (near Long Beach), CA. NHRA and later AHRA and UDRA events with the return of NHRA in 1972. Attended many events at Lions, and was at the last event, December 2, 1972, called "The Last Drag Race" with my father and brother. Art Arfons' Green Monster jet car ran against another. Funny Car Eliminator had a classic showdown for the final race. Tom "The Mongoose" McEwen against Don "The Snake" Prudhomme in the finale. McEwen prevailed in the "Hot Wheels" duel. Saw the blue Stone, Woods and Cook '41 Willys gasser. Also saw Hemi Under Glass, Little Red Wagon, and of course - Garlits' Swamp Rat. Here is a satellite view of the site which is being used for storing/sorting shipping containers.
- As a side note, when I was a teenager, I actually knew Mike Cook, son of the driver Doug "Cookie" Cook. That was when they briefly lived a couple of blocks from us in Downey, CA. One day, when we were walking out of their house, I heard noise coming from behind the garage door. Mike said it was just his Dad working on his car. When he opened the garage door, here was, at the time, the most recognizable drag racing car on the planet. The Stone, Woods and Cook '41 Willys. I remember staring at that car in amazement and couldn't believe I was meeting the driver too!.
- BTW, Mike Cook became the first person to exceed 200 MPH in a front wheel drive car, at the Bonneville Salt Flats in a production 2000 Pontic Bonneville . At over 202 MPH, he said the front end started drifting too much to control.
Ontario Motor Speedway, Ontario, CA. NASCAR, Indy cars. Attended the 1971 Miller High Life 500 Winston Cup race. My father, brother and I sat in the turn 4 stands which provided a view all the way down the front stretch. As this track was a virtual clone of Indy, stock cars had already run on a four corner, 2.5 mile, 9 degree banked track with heavier cars. So what was all that speculation about, in early 1994, as to whether they could be run at the Brickyard? OMS was closed in late 1980.
Orange County International Raceway, Costa Mesa, CA. NHRA. Long ago, after Lions closed, there was OCIR. But like Lions, Riverside, Irwindale and others, encroching urbanization and the drunken quest by local governments for more and more tax revenue, consumed the last standalone drag racing facility in southern California, drag racing's birthplace. An industrial park and highway interchange now stand where the iconic facility once stood. OCIR was closed down in 1983. For a different type of racing fix in Orange County, motorcycle 'Speedway' is still run at the fair grounds, in Costa Mesa.
Ascot Park, Gardena, CA. Many moons ago, the family used to go Friday nights to see Sprint Cars, Street Stocks, and the ever popular Figure Eight races and the Destruction Derbies called by Dick Lane on local TV in LA. Used to see Parnelli Jones race Sprint cars there. Ascot Park was finally shut down in 1990.
Saddleback Park, CA. Attended several outdoor Motocross events. Saw all of the great '60s and '70s riders from Europe and here. Rode there several times too! Here is a video I found on YouTube recently: Saddleback Park.
Trojan Speedway, South Gate, CA. Flat Track and TT, 100cc, 125cc and 250cc class bikes. I did a face plant and was run over by a couple of bikes after hitting a rut while landing from the jump in a TT practice session. I changed to the safer Motocross style after that (LOL).
Here are a few venues that still exist in one form or another:
LA County Fairgrounds, Pomona, CA. NHRA Nationals and Winter Nationals. Have seen some blistering numbers at that track over the years.
Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, Los Angeles, CA. Superbowl of Motocross (later Supercross). We went to the second ever stadium motocross there where Marty Tripes, a young rider, won overall against world class riders (Roger DeCoster, Brad Lackey, etc) for the second year in a row, in 1973. That year, the track went up the Peristyle end, through the south arches, made a tight left hand 180 degree turn and then out of a north side arch, where most riders took a long flight to the floor of the Coliseum. Wow. Still remember that like yesterday.
Marine Stadium, Long Beach, CA. NDBA, APBA, IHBA Drag boats. Saw Ray Casselli flip the number 007 blown gas flat bottom "Panic Mouse" well past the finish line at over 150 MPH. He went through the 1/4 mile gate at over 135 MPH with a stuck throttle. He returned from the hospital to watch the finals. Also saw "Mr. ED," then the blown fuel Hydro record holder in the early '70's.
Costa Mesa Speedway, Costa Mesa, CA. At the Orange Count Fair grounds, this 'bullring' has been holding Speedway motorcycle racing since 1968.
Willow Springs International Raceway, Rosamond, CA. This track is located north of Palmdale, near Lancaster and has been in operation since 1953. Many varied forms of racing have taken place here, from early NASCAR to FIM GP bikes and many others.
- As a side note, when I was a teenager, I actually knew Mike Cook, son of the driver Doug "Cookie" Cook. That was when they briefly lived a couple of blocks from us in Downey, CA. One day, when we were walking out of their house, I heard noise coming from behind the garage door. Mike said it was just his Dad working on his car. When he opened the garage door, here was, at the time, the most recognizable drag racing car on the planet. The Stone, Woods and Cook '41 Willys. I remember staring at that car in amazement and couldn't believe I was meeting the driver too!.
- Los Angeles Football (Professional)
- 1925 NFL.com notes a game played at the Los Angeles Colesium, in front 75,000 fans, between the Chicago Bears (W) and the Los Angeles Tigers (L).
- For 1926, other sources mention a Los Angeles Buccaneers team of Californians that only played on the road, out of state. In 1926, the name Tigers is for a Columous, OH team. If any one can clear this mystery, let me know.
- An AFL II team that operated from 1936 to 1948 was the Los Angeles Bulldogs, though they were known as the Long Beach Bulldogs their last year. They played at Gilmore Stadium, in Los Angeles, from 1936 to 1946 and at Veterans Memorial Stadium in Long Beach in 1947.
- Twenty-six NFL All-Star and Pro-Bowl games were played in Los Angeles between 1939 and 1979. The first one was at at Wrigley Field, Los Angeles in 1939, two at Gilmore Stadium, Los Angeles in January 1940 and again in December 1940, then at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum from 1951 to 1972 and once more time in 1979 before it was permanently moved to Hawaii.
- Los Angeles Dons; All-America Football Conference (AAFC); 1946-1949. Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum.
The AAFC folded after the 1949 season. Although other AAFC teams independently merged with the NFL in 1950, the LA Dons ceased operations. The NFL's LA Rams were already playing at the LA Coliseum throughout the same years that the LA Dons played there.
- Los Angeles Rams; NFL, NFC; 1946-1979; Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum
- Los Angeles Chargers; AFL; 1960; Los Angeles Coliseum
- Two NFL Super Bowl games were played at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum in 1967 (the first AFL-NFL World Championship Game, later known as Super Bowl I), where the NFL's Packers beat the AFL's Chiefs, and in 1973 (Super Bowl VII), where the AFC's Dolphins beat the NFC's Redskins.
- Los Angeles Rams; NFL, NFC; 1980-1994; Anaheim Stadium
- Los Angeles Raiders; NFL, AFC; 1982-1994; Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum
- Los Angeles Avengers; AFL (Arena); 2000-2008, folded on April 19, 2009; played at Staples Center
- Womaen's Football (semi-pro)
- California Quake, Downey High School, Downey, CA
- Los Angeles Amazons, Miguel Contreras Learning Complex, Los Angeles, CA
- Southern California Breakers (was Orange County Breakers), Fullerton Union High School, Fullerton, CA.
- California Quake, Downey High School, Downey, CA
- The second largest media market, in the US, has a few semi-pro Woman's Football teams, in addition to USC and UCLA college football teams. The NFL has not had a team in LA or OC since the 1994 season. Ridiculous.
- Here are a couple of memorable times at pro football games.
- On October 21, 1973, Fred Dryer, defensive end of the LA Rams, set a record two sacks in two consecutive possesions against the Green Bay Packers. I remember that both were at the west end (Peristyle end) of the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, to the north side of the endzone. We were sitting right there, in the first couple of rows. We couldn't believe what we had just seen in the span of a few minutes. I didn't know it was record setting until much later.
- After the 1985 season, on Jan 4, 1986, the Rams defeated the Cowboys 20-0 in Anaheim in the NFC Divisional Playoff Game. My father, Richard Kelley, had just completed five years working in Saudi Arabia at the end of 1985, and took my brother Pat and his son Jason, my two sons, Brent and Ryan, and me to this game. We were able to get the first row in a section so we could corral the three boys and still watch the game. That section was normally a section overlooking right field when it was used for baseball. This was a great day for the six of us, which to me was as memorable as being at the last drag race (actually called The Last Drag Race) at Lions on December 2. 1972, the first Winston Cup Race at Ontario Motor Speedway in 1971, and many others.
- For December 25, 1994, a friend, Glen Gregory, had a couple tickets through an employer for a LA Raiders game, at the Coliseum, against the Kansas City Chiefs. We decided to attend, specifically because this would be Joe Montana's last regular season game of his career. Also, which ever team won the game, they would become an AFC wild card team for the playoffs. It was a large crowd. We sat about 50 rows up, at the south-east corner, near the tunnel. The Chiefs won, so Montana would play one more game in the playoffs, which they lost. However, to LA fans, the Christmas Day game had greater significance. Excepting Al Davis and probably a handfull of others, I doubt if anyone else in that stadium knew they were attending the last game of the LA Raiders. In fact, it would be the last game played by a NFL team based in the LA/OC area to this day, as both the Rams and Raiders moved away before the start of the 1995 NFL season. Hey, so did I that year, but it had nothing to do with football.
- On October 21, 1973, Fred Dryer, defensive end of the LA Rams, set a record two sacks in two consecutive possesions against the Green Bay Packers. I remember that both were at the west end (Peristyle end) of the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, to the north side of the endzone. We were sitting right there, in the first couple of rows. We couldn't believe what we had just seen in the span of a few minutes. I didn't know it was record setting until much later.
This page updated 07/03/19.
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- 1925 NFL.com notes a game played at the Los Angeles Colesium, in front 75,000 fans, between the Chicago Bears (W) and the Los Angeles Tigers (L).
