From Oil Town to Surf City, USA

Huntington Beach Rides a Wave of Change!

 

 Written by SurfWriter Girls Sunny Magdaug and Patti Kishel

 Huntington Beach, named for railroad magnate and real estate developer Henry Huntington, has come a long way from its tiny, coastal farming roots and 1920s oil boom days.

The little SoCal town of less than 2,000 people tripled its population almost overnight when oil was discovered in the 20s, turning the sandy beaches into fields of oil wells pumping black gold. For the next half century oil would define the city until Orange County’s population growth and the increasing popularity of a sport called surfing transformed the city once more.

With the arrival of Gordon Duane’s Gordie’s Surfboard Shop – the first in the city – in 1956, followed by the 60s surf music sounds of Jan and Dean and The Beach Boys, HB was well on its way to becoming Surf City, USA.      The beach would change, reflecting its new identity.

 The boards would change – from long to short and from wood to polyurethane.

The bathing suits would definitely change.

But, the joy of surfing, once ignited, was here to stay in America’s surfing capital.

Surf’n Beach Scene Magazine

SurfWriter Girls

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