My Huntington Beach - Duane Wentworth

Duane shares how Huntington Beach was in the 50's and 60's. It was a small beach town filled with oil rigs. Duane has a family legacy in the City, being the great grandson of the first Mayor of Huntington Beach, Mr. Ed Manning. His mother was City Clerk and then City Historian preserving the City's history is in his genes. Duane shares wonderful memories of what it was like growing up in small town Huntington Beach.

[@mrkroeger]

I dream that when I pass away that my heaven is Huntington Beach during the early 70's

[@barbarapearce420]

I too was almost an original. Moved to HB in 1965 and sold dads house in 2015. What an incredible childhood it was. Playing in the streets, riding bikes anywhere we wanted. We had so many mothers looking out for ALL the kids. I could go on and on. Thank you Duane and David for capturing, saving and sharing such wonderful memories...warms my heart to see these well kept videos and photos of good 'ol HB in it's prime...to me anyways...

[@moryan6447]

My favorite beach when I was a teen and young adult! I’m in the Monterey Bay Area now and hadn’t seen HB in a very long time. I drove through a couple of years ago and I was just stunned at what had happened. Drove away filled with nostalgia, loss and more than a little sadness.

[@deboraholsen2504]

I do know how you feel when you drive through an area that you remember with fondness, yet it’s completely changed! I’m from OC, but lived in Monterey for three years recently, and boy, it’s too COLD there to go to the beach almost all the time, except for a few weeks in October! I guess that’s why the school district there starts school at the very beginning of August, right in the middle of summer!!! 😕 Yes, Monterey and thereabouts is beautiful, especially Garrapata Park, right on the ocean, however I prefer visiting there and living in a climate that is more conducive to year-round beach swimming, as in So Cal. I live in a really pleasant smaller city in south OC about 15 miles inland that was mostly built in the late 80s, that is not so crowded as HB because not as many people know how utterly charming it is! …Shhhhh!

[@moryan6447]

@Deborah Olsen I’m up the coast from Monterey in Santa Cruz which usually has more sun but the water is cold. Glad you found a hidden community near HB. When I went to HB a lot was from 1961 to 1967. I surely remember buy strip/red sauce and riding inflated little rafts to ride the waves before jumping to body surfing. Really great to go the Golden Bear as a others have mentioned. In high school we’d be farther down the road in Balboa during Easter break renting a place with friends. So much fun! I hope kids today have the same kind of fun with whatever is now available to them. Thankfully kids usually can and do and will think fondly of those days as we do ours. Have a great summer. Santa Cruz is a great place and certainly not the little town it was when I moved her 45 years ago😳

[@lastnamefirst4035]

@@moryan6447 SC great place. Expensive too

[@jimthecaregiver]

I grew up here!! It's a tourist town now!!I I know there is no going back but I wish we could of kept some more of its history and historical land marks alive. Our city that was once a nice cozy beach town and had real character is now a Tourist mecca. We should of least kept the golden bear down town. All about the money now!! Whats its going be like in 10 years! Glad your mom had the insight to preserve our small town HB history!

[@stevehix1656]

Huntington Beach still has incredible beauty. Grew up in Huntington, attending Marine View Elementary,then off to Huntington Beach High School. Still love Huntington Beach, thanks for sharing this video,it's always nice seeing these videos of the good old days. And people that shaped it's path

[@towardsthelight220]

Born in HB Hospital in 1972. Grew up here until 1987. Thank you for sharing. My old house sold for 1.8 million recently.

[@eatlaughandstupid4430]

Grew up in Anaheim but HB is a part of me because my friends and I spent so much time there especiallly the summers. Thanks for sharing. HB was a RAD place back the day. How lucky were we to experience it?

[@tomdestryjr.4261]

I moved to Huntington Beach in 1964 when I was ten, living in one of those new housing tracks just off Beach Blvd. between Warner and Edinger when Beach Blvd still ran through open fields and the 405 freeway was still under construction. We were surrounded by many acres of crop fields growing corn and soy beans, all of which disappeared over the course of the next few years. But for a while I could still ride my bike to places where there was nothing but scrub, eucalyptus trees and cactus and areas where oil pumps still operated, exploring and creating new adventures like I was a modern day Tom Sawyer. I really appreciate videos like yours that provide a glimpse back to those days and the sights I grew up with and satisfy my nostalgia for much simpler times.

[@moryan6447]

A beautiful remembrance of that wonderful little town! Thank you.

[@jr1638]

Grew up in HB off Florida & Yorktown. What I miss the most of HB were my family get togethers and The 4th July parade.Once they tore down The Golden Bear and Being labeled Surf City, I knew it was time to go.

[@sherrilldean211]

❤ every beach town on the coast was the same, but different I’m a LONG BEACH kid

[@roverton67]

Duane, you and David have provided a valuable service in preserving the life style and history of early HB. I was glad to be a small part of it growing up in HB. Thank you!

[@broman7271]

Thank you for uploading this video made me teary I'm 34 but a huge history buff, what a time to be Alive in Huntington prior to overpriced homes and inflation, never forget the people that made Huntington such a beutiful city🙏

[@mistery-ed7900]

I am another person who grew up in HB. Moved to the brand new Pacific Sands housing track in 1962. We were supposed to move in '61 but it wasn't ready. Attended Huntington Elementary and then after a little while in a Baptist Church we went to John R. Peterson School which was right across the street. There was a boy name Duane two doors down from me but I guess it was a different Duane. Went to Dwyer when the gym and cafeteria were condemned. Attended HB High for the 9th grade and then moved away. I would live there again in the 70s before moving north. The place today seems so foreign and distant. My house and neighborhood still looks similar but the downtown etc are like being in another world.

[@phillipmckeown3808]

I was born in 1963. Huntington beach is my home town. 1976. Moved to citrus heights ca. Brought hb life and style to sacramento. Vans shoes. Op shorts. Sex wax tshirts. Hangten shirts . inginity surfboards shirts. Pukashell necklace. Lakeview. Parkview. Mesaview. Oceanview high. Hb football. Tritons. Corsairs. Impalas. The girls were and are epic in everyway imaginable.

[@SylviaVillamero]

That's MY Huntington Beach too!!

[@jimraymond1393]

I also grew up in HB. Moved there with my parents in 1959 onto Eagle Lane, at that time there were 10,000 residents. I went to Meadow View Elementary, which is no longer there, graduated from Marina in 1969. Had to leave in 1986 for NorCal for job reasons but the “Old HB” will always be my idea of home. Now when we get back down there I really don’t know it any more. I could go on but just wanted you to know I appreciate the older photos of the city.

[@bettierusso5410]

This is so true. I too grew up there. Now, in my 60's I long for "home" . But life goes on, and we move away and our parents and friends pass away. The feeling of being an orphan creeps in when you know there is no more "home" waiting for you in HB. No more family or relatives live there, and all that is waiting is a visit to the cemetery . It does not look the same and I grieve for it. My grandchildren gave me a old beer bottle of sand from HB. I cried and it is one of my prize possesions. We can return in our mind and smell the petchulie oil and feel the sand as it burns our feet and remember the oil wells and the smell of the oil thick in the air when it was really hot. God Bless my friend.

[@kukukev]

I lived downtown mid 70's thru the 80's. Had an oil well in my back yard on 9th. & Walnut. My roommate's family own The Sugar Shack, still there. My band played The Golden Bear often. Oh how I miss Wimpy Burgers. Do you remember George Arnold? He ran for governor in '78.

[@texaskittymom]

Thanks Duane! My hometown too. But Ill never go back....its not like it was, in any way, shape, or form. I went back a few years ago to bury my Mom..and stayed downtown instead of with friends, so I could go walk the pier, and see Mom and Dads name on the plaque at the pier. And try and remember it like it was. Then drove away.. with a little tear, but more of a relief I was driving away. Its just not our little town any more! But I always LOVE seeing those pictures! Brings back GREAT memories.

[@jimmyjames6267]

That Rexall Drug store was Jack's Surfboard Shop Later, spent alot of time there in the 70s

[@dmbsteinberg]

Thank you for sharing the memories, Duane and David. Another hometowner here - born and raised 1966-1986. I loved our charming and chill downtown. Rode my cruiser any and everywhere. After trying out a few different states and countries, my family calls the Great PNW home now. No surfing but we've got great skiing! I've visited HB a number of times from 1986-2014. It's changed a lot over the years. It just doesn't have the same laid back beach town vibe.

[@puppy3318]

Since the closing of meadowlark airport to the destruction of the old pier , yuppies and skippys moved in .

[@tomyost3959]

Family moved brookurst Indianapolis 1970. Best place ever

[@georgekrpan3181]

I moved to Anaheim in 1965 when I was 12. My mom would drop me and my buddies off in HB where we'd surf all day, then one of my buddy's parents would pick us up and take us home.

[@deboraholsen2504]

I’m thinking that the building that shows Rexall Drug store became the old Jack’s Surfboards in the early 1980s, possibly earlier. In about 1985, when I was 19, the window above Jack’s was a small apartment occupied by several guys around the same age as I was then. I thought it was cool that they all lived across the street from the beach when I was invited up there for a few minutes by a friend who knew them. Then, all of a sudden, in about 1987 or so, Jack’s Surfboards was in an all new building at the same exact corner and they had totally rebuilt the stores around Pacific Coast Highway and Main Street! I could be mistaken, but if I am, then the Rexall Drug store is now occupied by an old Jack in the Box building that has since been converted into another fast food place. So that would make the Jack’s Surfboards nearby, but not on the corner of Main St and PCH. Memories can be a little sketchy when one is young! My grandparents lived in HB in a house they bought new in 1959. I was baptized at the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (Mormon) Church on Main Street and 17th in 1974, when I was 8 years old. Good memories!!! I’m still a dedicated member of the Church. :) I attended church in one of the buildings in Newport Beach with my family until I was old enough to attend church at the young singles ward at the Atlanta Avenue church building in HB when I became a young adult. More good memories! My Mom used to often take my sisters and I to Huntington Beach to swim and build sand castles when I was very young. …If I could just spend just one more day on the beach with my Mom, whom I miss so very much, I think I’d be happy the rest of this year!!! Thank you for sharing your personal memories of HB in your video. ☺️

[@TA-pp9jk]

I grew up in Huntington Beach Ca in the 60's alot of great times. Not the same. All concrete and parking garage.

[@noyb901]

I recognize your name and some of those below. We moved to HB in '63 from Canada. I attended HB Elementary and HB High (class of '69). I took a GED test and joined the army half way through my senior year. I did 2 tours in Vietnam and came home at 20. Lived all over HB for years before life took me elsewhere. I'm now retired in Rancho Cucamonga. Your video brought back some great memories of growing up. Thank you so much.

[@larryvaughn7339]

I lived in a township of Talbert now called Fountain Valley on 3rd street. My mother used to take us to a salt water plunge at the HB pier. One of our neighbors drowned there around 50 or 51. Thanks for your videos Brought back memories of a simpler time.

[@anthonyrivas7235]

My mom told me about the plunge. First time I have ever heard anyone else speak of it.

[@bettierusso5410]

OMG, thank you Duane. I also grew up there. I vividly remember all the same things in your video. The Surf Theater, Strips & salsa, Baby oil tans. Brookhurst & Adams. Beach Blvd and PCH. String Bikini's and TAB pop. Lake Park and playing baseball with green oranges or lemons and then with overripe avacado's as they would explode! How I miss those days. Tears are rolling

[@julierussell6114]

Yes, thank you... The Mutz family here, Jake and Jennys granddaughter...

[@marioaraujo7544]

Moved to HB in 1960. My Dad bought our house for $1 down with his GI Bill. Our Seahaven home costs $15,000. The monthly mortgage payment was $75.

[@Ryder_C.]

I live in that exact Glen Mar neighborhood pictured at 1:56 I can tell by the fence surrounding the neighborhood from the street, as it looks like it hasn’t been updated since they were first installed. 😂 Very cool to see a picture of my neighborhood from around 60 years ago!

[@Mylittledistraktions]

Current resident here. I’m digging to see how Huntington Beach was before the 2000. Thanks for sharing this video

[@anthonyrivas7235]

My mom often speaks of her childhood in that area during the mid 50s. Going to a small skating rink just left of the pier on PCH, swimming at the beach and a huge swimming pool next to the pier called the plunge. My grandfather worked the oil fields in the 40s. Lot's of family history in the area. Wish I could have seen it back then, unfortunately by the 70s when I was a kid things had already changed. Thanks for the great video!! I'll have to show Mom next time she is here.

[@hijinx3608]

That was really cool... I'm down at the pier every night... ... Things have certainly changed over the years... So cool to see the old days... Thanks for sharing this blast from the past

[@surfkroq1]

This is great! Thank you for sharing.

[@rA-uq1mu]

I moved to HB in ‘68 ... went to Smith, Moffett, Sowers and then Edison.. We used to hang out at the 7 -11 on Newland and Indianapolis, we’d also go and talk to the old guy that worked at El Don liquor “ Archie” for hours.. Still remember almost drowning during the the El Niño of ‘83 few days after they moved the original End Cafe “ bc my buddy and I thought our surfing was good enough , never mind all the wood in the lineup on south side of HB Pier smh” Such memories...

[@SpencerMusicSchool]

Great documentary Duane. I lived in HB since 71 and of course remember so much of the old charm before a lot of the hideous box malls Pacific City went up. I used to play piano at Maxwell's and with my 80s band at Golden Bear. .. I remember the old Sheraton on PCH and other landmarks that are gone. Thanks for sharing. Grew up in the old Gisler Middle School tract off Brookhurst and Atlanta.

[@martytom7141]

Member the punk rock?

[@SpencerMusicSchool]

@@martytom7141 I was not a punk rock player. My background is jazz/classical and my band in the 80s was much more jazzy New Wave. But I went to Edison High with numerous artists of the punk scene in the early 80s. So many famous rock artists came out of HB. I was the same class a Edison (1986) as Scott Weiland (Stone Temple Pilots), Warren Fitzgerald (The Vandals) to name a couple. People forget too that Peter Tork of the Monkees (whom I share a birthday with).. used to work Golden Bear before the Monkees were famous.

[@orlayo]

thank you for putting this great video together . I live in HB and love it. Its amazing to see how its changed.

[@jeffreylandon3825]

Just left H.B. today ..Surfing contest..A few people watching from the pier..and a couple hundred on the beach .Unfortunately my first visit to H.B. was with my mother and sister in the summer of 1967..Hung out in the sixties and the seventies..What happen to the teenage mecca of yesturday..All gone

[@Mylittledistraktions]

I live here now and was out doing photos of the Vans US Open of surf. If only a few people were watching from the pier it must have been early. Im guessing most of the teens are working. But if you went into any of the shops their will be a teen greeting you. Hope you had fun here in HB.

[@richiealvarado325]

I grew up in HB... Richie Alvarado

[@johnburwell6609]

Old HB is long gone, like many other places in SoCal. It's a toss up if it's better or worse now than it was in the earlier days. We don't have as much flooding during wet years. The roads are better. We have better bike trails. We also don't have the wide open spaces, friendly affordable neighborhoods, uncrowded beaches and downtown. I guess it's up to the individual

[@HoboCasting]

It's my Home Town too from 1959 to 1969 . I love this city , Sorry , but can't live there any more . Unless I had a Million Bucks . not in my life time . Our home off Sisson Drive cost only $9,000. a four bed room home . That was $900. down and $90. a month ( FHA ) 10 years later , my ma and pa sold it for $35,000. Today that same home at 5131 Sisson Drive is at $800,000. Can't under that . I now live in Joshua Tree , CA.

[@frankellison9072]

Duane, Frank Ellison here....Great documentary, really enjoyed it...We moved back to Big Island again...Get my email from Ruben...Take care old friend...

[@gonefishin1950]

@@frankellison9072 Hi Frank. I'll hunt down Ruben for your email. I was on the Big Island last year during the volcanos and hurricane. Great adventure! Good hearing from you..

[@dans9463]

Do you remember Mrs. Slater on Gothard St? Was it a bean field they owned which is now Ocean View high school?

[@freddesmet259]

More photos please or film.

[@stankormy5717]

It’s a surf town!

[@jamesjdm]

All these people here, "I moved to hb in the 60s" Yea... that's when it changed. You people are literally the ones that brought that chsnge but acting like you weren't the cause. Btw my family is one of the founding families and helped build most of this area so save your bs. When the population double then tripled from the 60s yo 70s the prices started going up. Now I live here agsin after being away ten years. Most of the people I live near couldn't afford their house if they had to buy it now. But what did people expect? It's a surf/ocean town, that's bound to happen

[@guppybill]

A very sad state for such a fine outpost of independence. It's a dirty, rotten shame. Literally dirty, rotten and shameful.

[@helloitsmehb]

Now it’s non stop BS like concerts, air shows and huge hotels Sad