Seal Beach at 75: Still a Hot Town

In its early days, Seal Beach was known as the shipping community of Bay City. Then during Prohibition, it became a frolicking town with a reputation for its Joy Zone, where bootleg liquor, gambling and ladies of the night flourished.

Since then, Seal Beach has evolved into an upscale coastal city fighting big development. And 96-year-old Frank Curtis, who moved here with his family in 1912, has seen just about all of it.

“A couple of years after we moved here, my brother and sister argued,” Curtis recalled. “One said there were 18 houses and the other said there were 20.”

Curtis and another longtime resident, Norma Pranter, will lead the parade Saturday when Seal Beach celebrates its 75th anniversary this weekend. Festivities will include a masquerade ball, a street fair and fireworks.

Pranter, 80, has lived in Seal Beach for 71 years, and she believes the city just has a way of attracting attention.

People talked about the city when, according to local historians, bootleggers installed a pipeline to carry liquor ashore from ships and barges in the bay. And people are still talking about Seal Beach, Pranter noted, what with the fight over Mola Development Corp.’s proposal to build homes on the old Hellman Ranch property, a grand jury investigation of the Police Department and the uproar over the Navy’s plans to expand its Anaheim Bay facilities.

“This town has always had controversy,” Pranter said. “I don’t pay any attention to it anymore. I’ve just had enough of it. I guess I’m not a very good citizen.”

This weekend, however, the community will be setting aside controversy to look back on its founding as a city by Philip A. Stanton in 1915. It was then that it officially adopted its new name, derived from a large--but long since departed--colony of seals living on sandspits near the beach.

To celebrate the town’s incorporation, Stanton--who went on to become speaker of the state Assembly--threw a gala celebration for more than 500 people, with dining at the Jewel Cafe in the Joy Zone and dancing in the pier’s Pavilion. Its population has grown from 3,553 in 1950 to more than 27,000 today, but with its tree-lined Main Street, Seal Beach maintains a small-town feel.

And it is the downtown area that will be the site for much of this weekend’s celebration, which kicks off tonight with a masquerade at the Bixby Office Park, 3010 Old Ranch Parkway. Tickets are $20 and can be purchased at City Hall, from various businesses or at the door.

On Saturday, the Lions Club will host an 8 a.m. pancake breakfast at Main Street and Electric Avenue, and a 10K run and 5K walk beginning at First Street and Marina Drive.

From 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., a street fair at Electric Avenue and Main Street will feature pony rides, carnival booths, food and music. In addition, a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle will make an appearance at the fair, and the Seal Beach Historical Society will offer rides through downtown on a restored Pacific Electric Red Car.

The Diamond Jubilee Parade will begin at noon at Main Street and Ocean Avenue, ending at the street fair on Electric Avenue. An anniversary program will be held at 1:30 p.m. on the greenbelt and the evening will wind up with fireworks at 7:15 p.m. at the pier area.

For more information about the celebration, call Seal Beach City Hall at (213) 431-2527.