Old Hermosa Beach, CA

As I get ready to go to a wedding in CA. I realized the hotel I am staying at is on the Strand in Hermosa Beach. My grandfather owned a hamburger shack on the Strand in the 50's about a block from the pier. My mother would get on a train with her older sister from El Paso, TX and go out to California to visit him. I never got the impression she was close to her father but as I have her digging through old photos to try to locate the actual address of his shop she said she was flooded with memories and that they weren't all bad. She said hanging out on the beach all summer was fun. My mom mentioned that the old Biltmore Hotel was about a block away, so I started to google that and found Ron Felsing's terrific photo stream of Old Hermosa Beach! I love these old postcards! I may email him to try to get a better idea of whether or not the addresses are somewhat the same. I want to go to the location of my grandfather's place and take some pictures for my mom so she can see how much it has or has not changed! Too bad my grandfather did buy a bunch of property down there! ha! I feel like I am on that show that hunts down your past relatives Who Do You Think You Are? Fun!

Comments

[bgm]

How sweet of you. Gosh going thru the old pix has been a journey, but I remember the wonderful beach. In all my travels the beach at Hermosa had the best sand..Europe included. bgm

[Jan]

I just went back to Hermosa this weekend with my daughter. My family lived on 16th street in Hermosa and then moved to a big old house on 24th Place and PCH. We lived in Hermosa my entire growing up period and going back everything seemed familiar even after 40 some years. My mother passed two years ago and I am desperately seeking pictures of the house I grew up in at 724 24th Place in Hermosa Beach. The house has been torn down. I hope maybe someone can give me advice as to where I might find pictures.

[kathy]

I grew up in Hermosa Beach. I do remember the Biltmore Hotel. I would climb up and peek in the window at the swimming pool. Also, Joe Young would rent surfmats for 50 cents. The hamburger place was called Howards. I would buy a hot-dog-on-a-stick. He would make a smiley face with mustard. My Mom worked at the mermaid, my Dad at Pio's rest. on Pier ave