HISTORY
Step Back in Time
Dana Point is rich with history. While the city is relatively young—it incorporated in 1989—na-
tives known as the Acjachemen tribe occupied the region for centuries before European settlers arrived in the late 1700s. The area’s first settlement dates back to 1776 when Mission San Juan Capistrano was founded by the Spanish. By the 1830s, cowhide traders from the East Coast utilized Dana
Placed throughout Dana Point in 1929, the street lantern was a decorative amenity giving way to the newly established Lantern District. These lanterns, in corresponding colors to the street with which they were hung, have since been replicated.
Point’s cove, known then as Capistrano Bay, for business. Aboard one of these trade ships was the 19-year-old seaman and Harvard- trained lawyer, Richard Henry Dana Jr. The young Dana, born 200 years ago, documented his voyage in the now renowned book “Two Years Before the Mast” where he called Capistrano Bay, “the only romantic spot on the California coast.” Soon, thereafter, this coastal region became known as Dana’s Point. The Roaring Twenties saw developer Sidney H. Woodruff,
responsible for the Hollywoodland development, and oil tycoon Edward Doheny bring seaside retreat plans to the area. Throughout the ’20s, Woodruff and Doheny built Spanish-colonial homes in Dana Point and Capistrano Beach, respectively. Neither developer’s dreams would survive the Great Depression.
Despite their falls, the pair had left their mark. Remnants of their
visions remain all through the city, from Doheny’s own bluff-top home to relics of Woodruff’s failed Dana Point Inn.
Edward Doheny’s home, on Camino Capistrano in Capistrano Beach, was built in 1929. The Doheny House has been fully restored and is now a historic landmark.
Built in 1927 as a scenic look out, the Sampson Overview Gazebo still remains at the crossing of Blue Lantern and Santa Clara streets.
10 Destination Dana Point
BLAST FROM THE PAST Revisit Dana Point’s history the third Saturday of the month on a 1.5-mile walk from the Nature Inter- pretive Center, located at 34555 Scenic Dr. Also, explore the area’s surfing, sailing, development and military history at the Dana Point Historical Society’s museum, 33282 Golden Lantern, Ste. 104.
Located along the bluff at the end of Violet Lantern, the Hide Drogher statue was erected overlooking the Dana Point Harbor to commemo- rate the tossing of hides to waiting trade ships below.
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