To celebrate 120 years of Ocean Beach, the OB MainStreet Association, the OB Community Foundation and the OB Historical Society have united to help residents remember the past through the Ocean Beach Historic Plaque Project.
Organizers are asking Ocean Beach residents to submit historic photos for seven sites that will be honored during the first phase of the project. Each structure will receive a plaque with a time-specific photo and a caption.
Organizers hope to unveil the first phase of the project by the spring and say it could be part of a self-guided tour for outside tourists down the line.
“People who love OB love its history, and so we want to make sure we don’t lose our history because buildings change,” said Denny Knox, executive director for the Ocean Beach Main Street Society. “A lot of buildings that were here [before] either got destroyed by fire, a rainstorm or the ocean, and we’d like to memorialize them in some way.”
In 1887, Billy Carlson and Frank Higgins purchased the Pueblo Lots and named them Ocean Beach. But, it wasn’t until
1909 that Ocean Beach became a livable place.
David Charles Collier, a lawyer and past mayor of San Diego, purchased a portion of the Pueblo Lots from Carlson in 1887 and in 1909 decided to bring Ocean Beach electricity and a trolley line, according to resident Pat James, president of the Ocean Beach Historical Society.
Ocean Beach saw much of its development happen throughout the 1920s. But many of the buildings from the era have been replaced.
The seven structures targeted under the plaque project in the first phase include the Newport Hotel (currently the Ocean Beach International Hostel), Strand Theater (currently Wings Beachwear), the Bank of Italy (currently Starbucks), the Silver Spray Hotel (currently the Silver Spray Apartments), Ocean Beach Elementary School, the OB Library and the OB Pier.
The Newport Hotel, which originally opened as the Pearl Hotel, was established at the turn of the 20th century.
“It was one of our earliest buildings,” said James.
Ocean Beach Elementary School is another building also established at the turn of the 20th century, according to James.
“The Strand Theater was right in the middle of town, so it’s nice to let people know what it was,” said Knox.
Organizers raised $7,300 during Ocean Beach’s Oktoberfest for the first phase of the project, according to Knox.
She hopes to raise more funds for other historic structures throughout Ocean Beach.
For more information or to submit a historic photo for the plaque project, contact the Ocean Beach MainStreet Association at (619) 224-4906.