15 Fun Facts About San Bernardino

WHERE "E" STREET MEETS MILL STREET - Driving along Interstate 10 at quick glance it appears to be just one of the many cities that make up the urban puzzle piece that is Southern California. Yet, as many longtime residents will tell you, San Bernardino is very much a city of its own that stands out in the Southern California suburban puzzle, aside from being one of the principle cities in the Inland Empire.


A photograph of the Inland Center Mall circa 1969. Photograph used under a Creative Commons license.

If people in Southern California never quite were familiar with San Bernardino, well, they, along with much of the country, are now very much aware of this city called San Bernardino.


Before Sears moved to the Inland Center Mall it was located in downtown San Bernardino as seen in this circa 1955 photograph. Photograph in public domain.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation uses certain criteria to formally declare a crime to be a "terrorist attack." It appears the recent event in San Bernardino is meeting that criteria set by the FBI. Subsequently, what occurred in San Bernardino on December 2, 2015, may end up being the deadliest terrorist attack within the United States since the terror attacks of September 11, 2001.

Given where the investigation of this mass shooting in San Bernardino, which killed 14 people and injured 21, has led, and where it is continuing to lead, this tragedy has not just national implications, but international implications.

Plenty of things have been written, from the San Bernardino Sun to The New York Times, about what occurred and what is continuing to transpire. We are not going to talk about that here. Since the world's eyes are on San Bernardino here are 15 fun facts about San Bernardino, San Bernardino County and the communities around San Bernardino.


The Mountain Goats singing about "San Bernardino."

1 - The First McDonald's Was In San Bernardino

That's right! The mother of fast food, giver of Happy Meals, with all the excitement and controversy that comes with it, began in San Bernardino.

2 - The Rolling Stones Played Their First U.S. Concert in San Bernardino


The Rolling Stones at The Swing Auditorium in San Bernardino. Photograph used under a Creative Commons license.

It was San Bernardino radio station K/MEN, back when radio was a really big deal, which brought The Rolling Stones for their very first U.S. performance at The Swing Auditorium in San Bernardino. How this radio station in San Bernardino brought them to the U.S. for the first time is a whole story in and of itself, which we will have in the not too distant future. The short story is, in the wake of The British Invasion K/MEN had a connection in London sending them the latest British hit-makers, and basically looking and hoping to find the next Beatles. Well, K/MEN's London connection sent them an album by "this group that is better than The Beatles," as their London connection described The Rolling Stones. Afternoon K/MEN personality Bill Watson played a cut from the album, suddenly the telephone lines were jammed, and "Mr. Kicks," as Bill Watson was known, did something extraordinarily out of the ordinary for top 40 radio and played the entire album.


Ticket from a later Rolling Stones performance at The Swing Auditorium. Photograph in public domain.

The Rolling Stones had made plans to tour the United States, but Mr. Watson knew they needed to get this band now! Mr. Watson, calling across The Atlantic, finally got in touch in The Rolling Stones' manager Andrew Loog Oldham. After some deals were cut, and told of the reaction of The Rolling Stones, Mick Jagger and company soon took to the U.S. stage for the very first time in San Bernardino thanks to K/MEN.

3 - Lyndon B. Johnson Had A Job As An Elevator Operator In San Bernardino


The Platt Building in San Bernardino where a future president once worked. Date of photograph unknown. Photograph in public domain.

Future Vice-President and President Lyndon B. Johnson once worked as an elevator operator at a San Bernardino building in 1925. During a 1964 reelection campaign stop in San Bernardino LBJ returned to that building, known as the Platt Building, to operate the elevator once more in front of a few cameras. The Platt Building fell in 1993 after meeting a demolition team under the names of "progress," "redevelopment" and "improvement." Many longtime residents were too happy with this new "improvement," which is to say it was a very conversational move demolishing the Platt Building. Before the Platt Building was torn down the elevator where LBJ worked was saved. 

4 - Home Of The Oldest Operating Jewish Cemetery 

The Home of Eternity Cemetery is the oldest operating Jewish cemetery in Southern California. The land was given to the Jewish community from Mormons in the 1850. 

5 - The Sun Almost Became Apart of the L.A. Times

The San Bernardino Sun has been for many decades, and continues to be, the dominate newspaper in the San Bernardino area (though in the last decade and a half it has faced stiff competition from The Press-Enterprise). Back in the 1960s the Los Angeles Times' then parent company Times-Mirror made an attempt to buy The Sun, but federal government antitrust officials were not too keen on the idea and thus no sale. Today The Sun is apart of the Los Angeles Newspaper Group, which includes, the L.A. Daily News, and Daily Bulletin, Pasadena Star-News, among other Southern California newspapers.

6 -  The Largest City Between L.A. and New Mexico Was Once, Colton

Certainly not Colton during the Californio era, but rather a photograph of downtown Colton from 1955. Public domain.

Near where current day Colton is there was once a town called Aqua Mansa, which was, for a time, the largest town between Los Angeles and New Mexico. It is a very significant place with its roots going back to Californio days. Its residents included the Wilson family and family member Don Benito Wilson. That Mr. Wilson is better known as Benjamin David Wilson who would go on to be the second elected Mayor of L.A., and whom Mount Wilson is named after. 

7 - What Does L.A.'s MacArthur Park Have To Do With Colton?

The writer of perhaps one of the most perplexing pop songs, "MacArthur Park," made famous twice, first by Richard Harris and later as a disco hit by Donna Summer, lived in the Colton area for a time once upon a time, and his name is Jimmy Webb. Mr. Webb also wrote "Up, Up and Away" as performed by The Fifth Dimension, along with many other songs. Mr. Webb even wrote a song about Colton, "820 Latham Street," perform by The Fifth Dimension (who had many rehearsal sessions in Colton) and The Brooklyn Bridge, which is apparently the Colton address where the girl of his dreams (and muse of many songs) lived. Turns out the girl of Mr. Webb's dream from Colton soon moved to L.A. and worked near MacArthur Park, which is where Mr. Webb and the girl from "820 Latham Street" in Colton spent many afternoons together. MacArthur Park ended up being a very special place for Mr. Webb and his girlfriend from Colton, and so he wrote a (long) song about it.

The Fifth Dimension singing about that girl who lives at "820 Latham Street" in Colton.

8 - Colton's First Marshall 

Virgil Earp, brother of Wyatt Earp, was Colton's first Marshall. The Earp house still stands at 528 West “H” Street in Colton. Please do not disturb the current residents.

This is a photograph of a Pacific Electric train station in Colton taken long after Virgil Earp was Marshall of Colton. Used under a Creative Commons license.

9 - Home Of The Cursed Fair

Poster for the 1917 National Orange Show. Author's collection.

Most people who grew up or lived in San Bernardino or the Inland Empire for a time will tell you about the "Curse of the Orange Show." Southern California was a citrus empire, and the annual National Orange Show in San Bernardino was a prominent event showcasing the best of the citrus industry. In its glory days "The Orange Show," as so many locals lovingly call it, featured not just A-list stars, but the very top of A-list stars. It was a very glamorous affair, but it always seem to rain on their parade, and many residents say there is a reason for that. Legend has it The National Orange Show Grounds are built atop of a Native American burial ground. The legend goes since it was built atop of Native American burial grounds a curse was placed on the event that makes it rains every time The National Orange Show is held. Records show that in fact, yes, many times during The National Orange Show it has rained. Coincidence?

A 1969 ad in the Los Angeles Free Press for The Jimi Hendrix Experience at The Swing Auditorium. Public domain.

(By the way, The Swing Auditorium, where The Rolling Stones played their first U.S. concert as mentioned above, and, also where many bands came through in the 1960s and 1970s, was located on The National Orange Show Grounds. The Swing Auditorium was destroyed by an airplane crash on September 11, 1981.)

10 - San Bernardino Is Bigger Than Switzerland

If you are a regular driver between Southern California and Las Vegas you probably think San Bernardino County is a very large county. You would be right, because that county in the Inland Empire is the largest county within the lower 48 states. San Bernardino County is larger than many states and even many countries. It is bigger than Switzerland. Its record was beat with the admission of Alaska as a state, which has a much larger county.

11 - The Last Two Big California Earthquakes Were In San Bernardino County

The last two magnitude 7-plus earthquakes within California were in San Bernardino County. Those quakes were, the 1992 Landers Earthquake and the 1999 Hector Mine Earthquake.

12 - Home Of The Tallest Mountain Peak In Southern California

Many people really do not like earthquakes, and that is very understandable, but earthquake faults give us in Southern California spectacular hills and mountains. One of those mountains is Mount San Gorgonio. Located in San Bernardino County in the San Bernardino Mountains reaching a peak of 11,503 feet Mount San Gorgonio is the tallest mountain in Southern California. On a very clear day you can see Mount San Gorgonio from downtown Los Angeles and by the beach in Santa Monica.

13 - The 100th In The Nation

In covering the tragic event many reporters from around the country and around the world noted that San Bernardino is not quite a small city, and for good reason. According to the 2010 U.S. Census the 100th largest city in the U.S. is San Bernardino. As well, San Bernardino is the 17th largest city in California.

14 - Where Sammy Davis Jr. Lost His Eye

Sammy Davis Jr. performing on NBC in 1966. Photograph in public domain.

In 1954 on the way home to L.A. from performing in Las Vegas Sammy Davis Jr. was in a car accident on Route 66 at Cajon Boulevard and Kendall Drive. That is where Sammy Davis Jr. lost his eye. It would be at San Bernardino Community Hospital where Sammy Davis Jr. would recover. While at the hospital his friend, Eddie Cantor, met with him and talked about the similarities between Jewish and black culture. It was at that moment, so the story goes, Sammy would begin his conversion to Judaism. Sammy was so grateful for the services he received at San Bernardino Community Hospital he held an all-star fundraiser at The Swing Auditorium for the hospital.

15 - Home Of The Hell's Angels

Started by the Bishop family in Fontana the motorcycle club that would set the standard for "outlaw motorcycle clubs" and go on to much notoriety began in San Bernardino County.


Certainly not a tune by The Hell's Angels, but rather, a tune from Frank Zappa, who had a studio in Ontario.

Seven Facts About The Landers Earthquake

THE HOT MOJAVE DESERT IN SAN BERNARDINO COUNTY - Little earthquakes, many of them very little earthquakes, shake Southern California everyday. However, it was on June 28, 1992, on which the largest county in the lower 48 states was the epicenter of the largest earthquake in California in about 40 years. Though not a lot of spectacular, memorable damage was done, there were a lot of lessons learned from this earthquake.


Probably the most noticeable damage following the 1992 earthquake was this bowling alley in Yucca Valley. Photograph taken by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and in public domain.

Waking Southern California up on a Sunday morning at 4:57 a.m. in the very busy year of 1992 here are seven interesting facts about the earthquake commonly known as, "The Landers Earthquake."

1 - It Still Remains The Last Largest Earthquake In California

It has been over 20 years and the Landers Earthquake was, according to the moment magnitude scale (M), a M7.3 earthquake, and (as of this writing) retains the record as being the last large earthquake, by way of magnitude, to hit California. Prior to the 1992 event the last large earthquake to hit California was the 1952 Kern County Earthquake, which occurred near Wheeler Ridge on the (thought to have been inactive) White Wolf Fault, and was M7.3. After the Landers Earthquake the next closest earthquake in magnitude size was the 1999 Hector Mine Earthquake at M7.1.

Even though this earthquake was rather big, it was not "The Big One." In fact, "The Big One" is expected to be M7.8-8.0.

As paleoseismology has shown this record held by the Landers Earthquake will likely be broken at some point.

2 - There Was A Lot Of Fault Involved

Rather, lot of faults were involved. The Landers Earthquake did not just rupture on one single fault-line, but rather ruptured on five separate fault-lines: Johnson Valley, Landers, Homestead Valley, Emerson, and Camp Rock Faults, according to the Southern California Earthquake Data Center (SCEDC).

3 - A New San Andreas Fault Could Be Opening Up

That is the theory, at least, from Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBL) geologist Pat Williams. According to the LBL article that came out in August 1992:

A theory that was posed in the aftermath of last month's earthquakes was that a new San Andreas fault could be opening up from the Salton Sea north to central California. Williams says instead that the recent activity has linked the Gulf of California with slip systems east of Mount Whitney, the 1872 site of one of California's three historic magnitude 8.0 earthquakes.

Williams' theory is that the strain is heading toward the back side of the Sierras, northeast into central Nevada, where it may affect active geothermal fields. The earth's movement could enhance the production of geothermal fluids by contributing to a thinning of the crust and allowing the fluids to circulate through complex fractures.

A huge strain response on a scale never seen before occurred during the 24 hours following the Landers earthquake. At the Pinion Flats Observatory researchers from UC San Diego observed a massive redistribution of strain deep in the earth's crust. For the first time, Williams says, scientists will be able to study not just how the upper 12 kilometers of brittle crust reacts, but the response of the deep crust beneath it.

This theory is still being debated among geological and seismologists circles, and, frankly, it will probably take a few more large earthquakes to see if this theory is correct. The earth sciences is sometimes a game of wait and see.

4 - Did You Feel The Foreshock?

At the time nobody knew it was a foreshock to the Landers Earthquake, and in fact, there was concern this might have been a foreshock to a San Andreas Fault event, and that was a M6.1 foreshock that hit about 11 miles east of Desert Hot Springs on April 23, 1992. The Earth Day earthquake caused a moderate amount of property damage in the Palm Springs area. As this earthquake, called the Joshua Tree Earthquake, rolled through to Los Angeles at 9:50 p.m. a Dodgers' game was going on and Vin Scully broadcast the the rolling motion happenings at Chavez Ravine.

There was concern this could be a foreshock to a San Andreas' event, and, according to the SCEDC, "A San Andreas Hazard Level B was declared following this quake, meaning that a 5 to 25% chance existed for an even larger earthquake happening along the San Andreas fault within 3 days."

This made for some big headlines in L.A. media, but by April 29, 1992, this earthquake and the threat of the San Andreas Fault unleashing its fury would be forgotten, at least for a little while.

This foreshock had its own foreshock, a M4.6, a little over two hours earlier.

5 - Was The Big Bear Earthquake Really An Aftershock?


This was the Big Bear Earthquake broadcast live on CNN to the country and parts of the world.

The short answer, no.


This is a report of the earthquakes from KTVU-TV, Oakland/San Francisco, which includes on-air coverage from KTTV-TV as the Big Bear Earthquake shook the KTTV/Fox 11 newsroom at the now gone Metromedia Square in Hollywood.

At 8:05 a.m. on that Sunday morning a lot of people were already up and had already felt quite a few aftershocks, but one the largest, and probably most damaging, earthquake that morning was the Big Bear Earthquake. It was originally thought the M6.5 Big Bear Earthquake was simply an aftershock, and having an aftershock of that size following such a large earthquake is not unusual. However, as later research showed, the Big Bear event was not an aftershock of the Landers Earthquake. Rather, that earthquake in the San Bernardino Mountains was apart of a "regional earthquake sequence," according to the United States Geological Survey (USGS).

6 - Location And Magnitude


While there was some strong shaking in the Inland Empire, L.A. area, Orange County and San Diego area, all of the violent shaking, which causes severe damage, was in mostly unpopulated areas of the San Bernardino County desert. "Shakemap" by USGS and in public domain.

Even though the Landers Earthquake was a historically large, powerful earthquake, the epicenter was seemingly in "the middle of nowhere," and damage was mostly minor-to-moderate (if you were somebody who lived near the epicenter in "the middle of nowhere" it was, no doubt, not quite a good morning). The Big Bear Earthquake a little over three hours later, and a lot less powerful than the Landers' event, was in a more populated area, and thus more damage was caused despite it only being a moderate-size earthquake. The Northridge Earthquake vividly showed that it only takes a moderate-sized earthquake in an urban area to cause major damage. So, even though an earthquake may be quite large (and scary sounding to those around the country who only hear, "A 7.3 earthquake struck the L.A. area on Sunday morning"), if it is located in a very sparsely populated area very little property damage will be found. This, too, would be visibly illustrated following the 1999 Hector Mine Earthquake.

7 - The Landers Earthquake Happened One Year After The Sierra Madre Earthquake

Some people have forgotten about this earthquake, but on June 28, 1991, a M5.8 earthquake struck in the Angeles National Forest about 12 miles northeast of Pasadena in an event called, The Sierra Madre Earthquake. It is interesting and curious that some people have forgotten this event as this earthquake caused some major property damage in the Pasadena area, such as, windows shattering and brick-walls collapsing. One of this interesting things about this earthquake was for a quake of its size it had a small aftershock sequence.

No, despite these earthquakes occurring a year apart they are not related.

A Simple Plea: Bring The Winter Olympics to Southern California

Shown for educational and information purposes only; no copyright infringement intended. 

HEAPS PEAK IN THE SAN BERNARDINO MOUNTAINS - The Sochi Olympics have wrapped up, bringing to end the somewhat contentious XXII Olympic Winter Games. Among the many real or perceived problems, there was one real problem, which is the Sochi games were just a little too warm for the Winter Olympics. The climate in the Sochi area is typically rather mild and Russian officials stored significant amounts of snow for the games, just in case. Nonetheless, despite social issues outside the gates and the unrest in nearby Ukraine, the Sochi games went off without any real problem, and the events themselves were an overall success.

So, if a place like Sochi can pull off a Winter Olympics then why cannot our own Southern California mountains, The San Gabriel and San Bernardino Mountains, host the winter games? After all, the weather in our local mountains are about the same as in Sochi, you never quite know if it is going to be a snowy year or warm year, and if it is warm our ski resorts know how to make and store quite of bit of snow. 

Where In Our Mountains?

Probably the most logical site for the home-base of the Winter Olympics would be Big Bear, but however events could be spread all over the Transverse Range. Spreading out Olympic events is nothing new. It was done in Sochi, and it was done during the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles with many Olympic games spread throughout Southern California.

Sure, there would be some infrastructure that would need to be built, but that would be a boom to the local construction industry. 

Okay. All This New Stuff Is Built, But What Happens When The Games Leave?

Some may ask what happens when the Olympics leave the mountain resorts with so much new stuff built? Well, for places in Big Bear, and perhaps other places in the San Bernardino and San Gabriel Mountains, they can now brag and sell their ski resorts as being world famous, and boost their ski resorts from being local destinations to world destinations. What skier would not love to play and ski at an Olympic ski resort?

What About The Mountain Roads?

What about accommodating all the Olympic spectators, and those mountain highways?

Yes, as any person who has driven our mountain highways and roads can attest, the roadways to and around the mountain towns are not the best, and can provide for a white-knuckle ride at times, but this would provide the opportunity to improve the mountain highways.

Furthermore, shuttle service can be provided to and from events, and up and down the mountain. Also, this may be an opportunity to explore other unique forms of transportation, such as a tramway from the base of the mountain to perhaps Big Bear, not unlike the Palm Springs Tram. 

Just Where Is Everybody Going To Stay?

In the mountain towns there would be a need to build some new hotels, but there are many hotel and motel rooms down the mountain in the Inland Empire that are underused and could be used to house Winter Olympic spectators.

Of course before, during and right after the Olympic games it will be massive boost to the hospitality industry, and not just in the mountains, but it will have a positive ripple affect throughout Southern California. It is not an unlikely scenario that hotels from Palm Springs to L.A. would be filled up with Winter Olympic spectators. 

What About Traffic Down Here?

What about traffic having a ripple affect in the flat lands? Well, we all worked together during the 1984 games, and the recent events on Interstate 405, and so why cannot it be that way again for the Winter Olympics?

Consider It and Bring It To Our Mountains!

We say to the powers that be, bring the Winter Olympics to the Southern California Mountains. We have, and could easily have, the infrastructure in place, and hosting the games here you would not have to worry about any possible social problems taking center stage at the games. The United States is a very stable place to hold the Winter Olympics, and our Southern California mountain range will make it even better.

As an added bonus to consider, though it is on a smaller scale, Big Bear has hosted the X-Games, among other such winter events.

The Winter Olympics in Southern California? Yes, this can be done.

We have already hosted two Summer Olympics, and let us make our third hosting of the games The Winter Olympics!

This can be done, and so let us do it!

Remember Santa's Village and Santa Claus Lane?

[May/June 2014 UPDATE: In May 15, 2014 the Lake Arrowhead based Mountain News reported that they, "confirmed the pending sale of the 154-acre property to an unidentified Lake Arrowhead resident who has big plans for the property." This has set off much speculation that Santa's Village is coming back. Not to be the bearer of bad news, but however, (please do not throw snowballs at the messenger!) whatever those "big plans for the property" may be it must be pointed out that as of now, based on all the information made available, no firm or clear plans have been made that Santa's Village is coming back for sure.]

[August 2015 UPDATE: According to the San Bernardino Sun, Santa's Village will NOT be opening up in 2015. The current owners of the site have, quite frankly, not made it entirely clear just what the plans will be.]

LAKE ARROWHEAD - There was a time not too long ago in Southern California when Christmas and Santa Claus hung around all year long. Even if you never saw Santa Claus in the middle of spring chances are you knew from a charming commercial where you could find the jolly man in Southern California.

Many people who grew up here in the land of sunshine, freeways and palm trees probably remember a time in Southern California television history when "the independents," KTLA-TV, KHJ-TV/KCAL-TV, KTTV-TV and KCOP-TV, seemingly filled their morning or afternoon programming with cartoons. For those just coming of age it may be hard to believe such channels that now fill our airwaves with pathetic paternity results with inane insults once gave us great vintage cartoons that can no longer be found on television, and not even on the Cartoon Network. It seemed KTLA and KHJ aired cartoons in the morning; most memorable was Tom Hatten hosting Popeye cartoons on KTLA every morning, while KTTV and KCOP had the afternoon for cartoons.

Between all these cartoons was a very memorable commercial that seemed to air during every commercial break, a jolly ad for Santa's Village.

Even up until the the tip of the mid-1990s as morning and afternoon cartoons were waning on local television you can be assured there was an advertisement for, "Santa's Village, in the colorful San Bernardino Mountains on Highway 18, just 30 minutes north of San Bernardino."

It seemed the very same advertisement was aired for many years, and the only change probably ever made in their timeless commercial was the removal of "714" and replacing it with "909" in their listed telephone number.

The park was just a bit older than Disneyland, opening six weeks before the new Anaheim theme park in late May 1955.


A 1960s era pamphlet for Santa's Village. No copyright infringement intended; shown for educational and historical purposes only.

The owners of Santa's Village have quite the story of their own.

J. "Putty" Putnam Henck, a graduate of University of California at Berkley with a degree in engineering, moved to Skyforest, just outside of Lake Arrowhead, in 1923 with his wife, Mary.

Mr. Henck made very good use of his degree when he devised a plan to bring water and electricity to the then very rural San Bernardino Mountain town in the 1920s. Subsequently, Mr. Henck helped open up the first sheriff's and fire station in town.

While Mr. Henck brought water and power to town Mary Henck brought education to the then rural outpost of Lake Arrowhead by opening the first schoolhouse in the mountain community. Today a middle school is named after Ms. Henck in Lake Arrowhead.

In 1954 the Hencks, along with developer H. Glenn Holland who developed other Santa' Villages in Santa Cruz and outside Chicago, began construction on the Christmastime theme park in Skyforest.

For many years the quaint theme park was run by the couple and, according to Mr. Henck in a 2006 interview with the Los Angeles Times, at its height Santa's Village brought in 180,000 visitors a year.

The theme park was designed for children as perhaps the most thrilling ride offered was probably the Sled Ride, but nonetheless it was a charming, vividly colored theme park featuring a petting zoo and giving young visitors the chance to actually see and pet "Santa's reindeer." Best of all, you can go to Santa's Village, visit Santa Claus and have Christmas fun in the middle of July.

Santa's Village represented some of the last theme parks where imagination reined.

The place where Mr. Kris Kringle visited when he was away from the North Pole closed in early 1998.

Mr. Henck cited increased competition from newer rides at Knott's Berry Farm and Six Flags Magic Mountain. The said increased competition came in the way of faster, "extreme" rides that the Hencks could neither afford, financially and logistically, nor did they want to add such attractions to their park and risk ruining what they originally envisioned.

After Santa's Village closed Mr. Henck remained active in the Lake Arrowhead community showing up at events and local political hearings.

In January of 2010 Mr. Henck past on at the age of 91.

Today remnants of Santa's Village still remains amid a construction company that has taken its place. Still intact are several colorful buildings and the Bumble Bee Monorail line.

If you ask nicely the owner of the construction company may let you walk about the premises and explore a piece of Southern California history "that isn't here anymore."

Of course, how could this story run without showing the commercial! For anybody who grew up in Southern California here is the commercial that seen to run during every afternoon commercial break.



Well, somebody was kind enough to share this found home video footage of Santa's Village.

Santa Claus in Santa Barbara 

Speaking of all things Santa Claus in Southern California, anybody remember Santa Claus Lane in Carpinteria near Santa Barbara? In particular, who remembers the big Santa atop of the building right off U.S. Route 101?

Santa Claus Lane was perhaps a condensed version of Santa's Village and was an Americana roadside attraction offering great date shakes and a miniature train ride through the premises. Of course the highlight of Santa Claus Lane for any child was the toy store.



Postcard of Santa Claus Lane in Capinteria. No copyright infringement intended; shown for educational and historical purposes only.

Created by the McKeon family as a roadside attraction in 1948 Santa Claus Lane started out with a Post Office and a juice shop, which served very popular date shakes, and of course, there was Jolly Santa Claus all 23 feet high to greet motorists along the 101. By 1956 there were two more businesses added, Toyland, which was always popular with children, and Santa's Kitchen. In its early years other attractions were added such as a merry-go-round, and perhaps the most memorable attraction, aside from Toyland, was the miniature train. 

Located just outside of Carpinteria the small area was soon given the named Santa Claus, California, as a play on the many city names in the Golden State that have "Santa" in their name. With a Post Office on site those sending letters to Santa's workshop in the North Pole, or to North Pole, Alaska, could have their letters postmarked with, "Santa Claus, California."

The best date shakes this side of the North Pole, a train ride, and a toy store, what more could a kid want!

Well, all things must change, and the 1970s seemed to mark the start of dark times for roadside attractions, and "Santa Claus, California" would prove no exception. By the 1980s the festive place off the 101 had become rundown with empty storefronts, and by 1984 even the popular miniature train was no longer running. There were a few modest efforts in the 1980s and 1990s, such as remodeling and repainting, to modernize the storefronts and businesses, and this as Toyland and the place to get great date shakes hung on into the late 1990s.

As the 1980s and 1990s wore on the Santa Barbara area further posed itself to be "The Hamptons of the West" and the 23-feet tall Santa Claus was becoming a tacky thorn in the side of city and county planners, along with wealthy developers. It was becoming clear in the 1990s that Santa's days overlooking drivers on the 101 would be coming to an end.

In 2002 Carpinteria city officials along with Santa Barbara County Supervisors, amid some debate to save Santa, decided to do away with the Jolly Old Saint Nick who greeting commuters along the 101 for many decades, deeming it, well, too tacky.

Of course it has been said that even Santa works in strange ways, and perhaps that is true as the big guy in the red suit still greets drivers along the 101, only this time a little bit south from a lot in Oxnard where he has been since 2003.


Here is Santa sitting in a lot in Oxnard. No copyright infringement intended; shown for educational and historical purposes only.




A date shake sounds good now. No copyright infringement intended; shown for educational and historical purposes only.

Today Santa Claus Lane remains as a street name, and it is really the only memory of what once stood there as "Santa Claus, California" is not even so much a shell of its former self, but rather all the stores have been repainted, remodeled and replaced with offerings reflecting the "Santa Barbara taste."

It would seem Santa Claus now stays in The North Pole all year long as Santa's Village and Santa Claus Lane are places in Southern California that are no longer here (as are afternoon cartoons on L.A. broadcast television), but they made for great memories for those who were lucky enough to experience it.

*Editor's Note: This article was originally published on July 24, 2010 on the editor's now defunct news-blog site, Southern California News Wire.

The Best View is from a Parking Lot

ANAHEIM - Southern California is full of unique places, both natural and plastic, but there is one place made of concrete that offers the most spectacular views of Southern California.

Many people climb Mount San Gorgonio or Mount Baldy seeking the best view, but there is a place in Orange County were the views can never be beat, unless it is a dreaded smoggy day.

Just take a climb up to one of downtown Anaheim's three parking structures and you shall see in one single head-turning swoop, Santa Catalina Island, which is not quite 26 miles out to sea as a popular song would suggest, the Santa Monica Mountains, Hollywood Hills (if it is really clear and you focus, or perhaps squeeze your eyes hard enough, you can even see the Hollywood sign), Downtown Los Angeles and the San Gabriel and San Bernardino Mountains.

Yes, to the surprise of some people, Anaheim does indeed have a downtown. 

Climb atop of the concrete peaks and discover all you can see.