Mission Beach’s Terry Curren and Phil Prather have built the next best thing to a time machine and on Saturday, Oct 27. With an extensive collection of old photographs, they will transport the Wavehouse back to the time when Mission Beach had more jackrabbits, rattlesnakes and lizards than beachgoers.
Curren and Prather, two self-proclaimed Mission Beach old-timers, are the men behind “Images of America Mission Beach,” the new book produced by Arcadia Publishing that captures the birth and development of Mission Beach through historic photos.
With Belmont Park being such an integral part of Mission Beach, it was only natural that the Wavehouse, 3146 Mission Blvd., would host the book release party Saturday, Oct. 27, from 2 to 6 p.m.
Through photos collected from relatives of Mission Beach’s early pioneer families and friends, the book details the birth of Mission Beach, then details the changes and events that shaped the community in each decade from the 1920s to the present.
“Before 1915, Ocean Beach was the beach where everyone from San Diego would go to,” Prather said. “From Old Town, it’s only a mile or two away. To get here (Mission Beach), you had to go all the way up the highway, through Pacific Beach and then down here. So nobody came.”
But in 1915, a bridge spanning the entrance of Mission Bay was built to connect Ocean Beach to Mission Beach.
“The bridge, as well as Belmont Park, were built primarily to lure people out here so they could buy these lots,” Curren said.
Developer J.M Asher Jr. began offering interior lots for $450 and waterfront locations for $1,000, which in today’s dollars would be approximately $22,100 for a piece of prime Mission Beach real estate.
The book also dedicated a chapter to Belmont Park, documenting creation of the Plunge, Giant Dipper rollercoaster, amusement park.
“It was late 1924 when they first started construction,” Curren said. “The rollercoaster was really interesting. They didn’t start construction until May 1925 with 150 workmen on the job, and they had it ready for opening day on July 4. They built it in two months. Now it would take you 12 years just to get through the Coastal Commission.”
While the idea of a building a saltwater swimming pool next to the ocean might seem redundant, Curren said the visiting the beach 100 years ago was still new experience for a lot of the visitors to Mission Beach.
“You have to realize, in 1925 most of the people in San Diego were from somewhere else,” he said. “They all moved in from the Midwest and the east, and they didn’t know a heck of a lot about the ocean. Swimming in the ocean is much different than swimming in a pool. It was a saltwater pool and you can bounce around in a pool, but if you went out into the ocean, you might drown. I think they were just more comfortable swimming in a pool until they learned how to surf, body surf and understand the rip currents.”
The two authors also worked as lifeguards in the early stages of the department’s history, which they documented with a chapter in their new book. Prather became a lifeguard at age 17 during World War II and Curren became a lifeguard in 1952 after he graduated from high school.
“In those days, there were maybe eight or 10 permanent guards and there was no future, and when you became a certain age when you couldn’t swim good enough to save people anymore, you had to go,” Prather said. “So a lot of people became firemen, policemen and went on to become judges, attorneys and doctors. Nowadays, you can go further, but it was a beautiful part-time job.”
“When we were guarding, you’d have a big pocket of people at Belmont Park, and you’d have another pocket at Redondo Court at Old Mission, then another pocket at Pacific Beach,” Curren said. “Even though you’d be in tower at Belmont Park, I’d have to watch from the jetty to Old Mission.”
Times have definitely changed. The wooden boardwalk is now a permanent concrete structure with a seawall to protect nearby homes and businesses, Mission Bay was transformed from a muddy marsh filled with grass and rocks into a large recreation harbor, and beachgoers no longer wear dark jackets and neckties.
“Images of America Mission Beach” celebrates the people, places and memories that made it a great place to have grown up in, documenting the memories of those who were here from the beginning.
Both the Mission Beach Woman’s Club and Old Mission Beach Athletic Club (OMBAC) will join the authors at Saturday’s release party. The authors will have copies of the book available, along with even copies of photos that didn’t make the publication deadline on display.
“It will be an opportunity to talk to people about the living history of Mission Beach,” said Woman’s Club President Susan Thorning.