Along the PCH
I’m like you. I still go into the new CVS Pharmacy (formerly Sav-On) and feel totally disoriented.
How did Charmlee Wilderness Park get its name? In the 1950s, the property was owned by Charm and Lee Schwartz, a 295-acre ranch called CharmLee Ranch. Malibu City obtained it in 1999 from Los Angeles County.
The Malibu Pier, gradually reopening, was first open to the public in 1934, particularly for fishing charters. It was damaged by a storm in 1942 but when it was rebuilt in 1944, the restaurant, store and tackle shop were added to the back extension, also first created at that time.
What do the residents have in common at Cavalleri, Anacapa View, and West Saddle Peak? Answer: They all have their own gated, private street.
The privilege is also enjoyed at Sea View Lane, Ocean Breeze and Sea Star in Malibu Park, and at both Sea Levels at Broad Beach, Sea Lane on Paradise Cove, Villa Costera, Latigo Bay View and Calicut and Ramirez Canyon. As well as Sea Ranch Way and Hampton Court, the most recent new streets on Point Dume, Ramirez Mesa, Via Venezia and a variety of other small lanes in Malibu.
The Arroyo Sequit Park on Mulholland Highway, formerly the Dick Mason Ranch, six miles up from Pacific Coast Highway near the radar dishes, was dedicated in the summer of 1986. It is a great place for short hilly hikes and pleasant meadows.
If you have never been to the top of Corral Canyon, there is a large public parking lot that allows access to great hiking trails atop the mountain, as part of the Backbone Trail. You will see awesome rock formations and arches up there, was well as vistas into the 101 Freeway corridor.
How does Malibu politics stack up historically in 2006? Pretty boring, if you ask me. There has rarely been a more static and mild time in our history. Politically, little is in play. The ominous LNG proposal has citizens fired up and united. But no issue has locals fighting each other and even the local troublemakers have little to bark about. The bitter, cantankerous 1990s are long past. Both commercially and residentially, there is little activity in construction. The city looks virtually the same as it did five years ago. Furthermore, no natural disasters in some time. The park acquisitions were the major historical events of the year, but they were some time in coming and met with mild fanfare earlier in the year. Quiet times to enjoy.
Notice how pristine and well-maintained Zuma Beach is this time of year? When the county obtained the property from the Marblehead Land Company in 1941, there were many houses along Zuma Beach that were eventually razed to make way for the mile and half long parking lot. Zuma is a Chumash word that means “abundance.”
There are two houses in Malibu that have 1/2 in the address, both down lanes along the PCH on the west side of town. There is a house in Las Flores Canyon that sits on the odd side of the street with an even numbered address.
Has gold ever been discovered in Malibu? The answer is yes. In the 1920s, the old Kincaid Ranch at the top of Trancas Canyon was an operational gold mine.
Was there a school in Malibu before 1920? The answer is yes. Decker School, accessed only by dirt roads for many miles during most of its existence, opened in 1912 and lasted until 1955 when it was replaced by Juan Cabrillo Elementary School, two years after unifying with the Santa Monica School District. At times, only children from a few families made up the enrollment, but in the later years as many as 50 students attended.
There is a solution to the Ramirez Canyon dispute between residents and the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy. The SMMC should do all it can-pay all it must-to obtain vacant land between its Streisand facility and Kanan Road above. Then they can build their own road to their party palace. Until then, they should stop badgering the Ramirez residents (who maintain a private road). Don’t you just love huge bureaucracies originally chartered to do public good, turned self-absorbed and more trouble than they’re worth?
There used to be a gas station on Malibu Road, then Roosevelt Highway, approximately across the street from where the fire station is now, circa 1940s. It was not a 76 station.
Remember when half the cars in Malibu had license plate frames that said “Malibu…A Way of Life?”
Malibu is a beautiful place. It also has its selection of eyesores. The longtime leader is the unfinished foundation of the home adjacent Malibu Presbyterian Church on Malibu Canyon. There are the large abandoned green houses at Webb Way and Stuart Ranch Road. I wonder when that final pane of glass will collapse out of its frame? The two abandoned gas stations across the street from the two closed restaurants at Carbon Beach (now all four properties have the same owner) could use some sprucing.
The original Malibu Courthouse, in the brick building near Las Flores Canyon, also served as a church around 1950, sometimes accommodating Catholics, Presbyterians and the Church of Christ Scientists all on one Sunday.
The original name of Paradise Cove was Banning Harbor, named after Captain Phineas Banning who came to the area from San Pedro in the early century to load up oak tree wood. Banning Harbor was the site of Malibu’s earliest brothel, by the way. In case you wondered.