Dana Point
One of my favorite places just to ‘hide’ is in the Harbor area of Dana Point. I like to have lunch at the Wind and Sea, then walk around and enjoy all the yachts. Of course, outside the Harbor, Dana Point has a few ‘destination point’ type restaurants. I don’t think I have a single client who is unhappy with their choice of calling Dana Point ‘Home’.
Dana Point also enjoys a very, very interesting history. Let me share what I have learned. In 1923, Los Angeles Times publisher Harry Chandler and General M.H. Sherman, Director of the Pacific Electric Railway Company, created a major real estate group to develop what is known today as the Hollywood Hills, Sidney H. Woodruff, already a prominent Los Angeles homebuilder, was hired to lead the project. In 1926, Woodruff, Chandler, and Sherman created the Dana Point Syndicate.
They invited other heavy hitters, company presidents, movie producers, and real estate investors, to join them in purchasing 1,388 acres of land, some of which includes the "Headlands" of today. Promising tree-lined, paved streets, electricity, telephones, sidewalks, water mains, storm drains, sewers, and other amenities, Woodruff built 35 homes and a number of commercial buildings.
Most of these "Woodruff" houses are concentrated in a Dana Point's historic core, also called Lantern Village (currently about 12,000 residents). The streets are named after the different colored lanterns, street of the Violet Lantern, Blue Lantern, etc. (colored lanterns were used by ships 200 years ago to advertise their fares when pulled into the Dana Point natural harbor). His crowning structure was to be the Dana Point Inn, a Mediterranean-like resort hotel. After a celebratory groundbreaking in 1930, a three-story foundation was poured and a 135-foot elevator shaft was dug.
Unfortunately, the Depression caused construction to halt. Although Woodruff continuously sought financial support through the years, this project was abandoned in 1939. Subsequently, he sold the remaining holdings of the Dana Point Syndicate. Thirty-four of the original Woodruff residences are still occupied.
Capistrano Beach
In 1928, a corporate entity of the American industrial giant Edward Doheny, who had built his fortune in oil production in Southern California and Mexico, purchased a number of lots in Capistrano Beach. Doheny's son, Ned, formed a development company, the Capistrano Beach Company, which included his wife's twin brothers, Clark and Warren Smith and Luther Eldridge, a contractor, to build a community of Spanish style houses.
According to Dana Point historians Baum and Burnes, Eldridge favored two dominant characteristics in his homes, a typically Spanish roof line and the use of large ceiling beams in the houses' main rooms. The roofline, covered with red ceramic tiles, incorporated a low-pitched gable, spreading out to one short and one long roof. The ceiling beams were stenciled artwork painted by artist Alex Meston. Eldridge was able to complete the original Doheny family house on the bluffs, four houses on the beach, and 18 other homes scattered throughout the area before tragedy struck the ambitious project. Read more
Edward Doheny was preparing for his criminal trial for bribery in the Teapot Dome Scandal, and on February 16, 1929, Ned Doheny and, Hugh Plunkett, his friend and secretary, who were to testify in the trial, were killed in a murder that still remains unsolved. In 1931, as a memorial to Ned, Petroleum Securities Company, Doheny's family-owned business, made a gift of 41.4 acres to the State of California, which is now Doheny State Park.
The unimproved Capistrano Beach properties passed back to Edward Doheny, and, upon his death in 1935, to his wife and heirs. By 1944, all of the properties had been sold to private parties.
The Doheny family also funded the building of the what was then called St. Edward's Chapel in Capistrano Beach. The Chapel soon grew, received canonical status as a parish, and moved to its current bluff-top location in Dana Point, overlooking Doheny State Beach.
Geography
According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 29.5 square miles. 6.5 square miles of it is land and 23.0 square miles of it (77.96%) is water.
Dana Point headlands are a prominent feature in Orange County geography and after years of controversy, are currently being developed as a 118-house gated community.
However 68 acres of the site is open to the public and features a nature center and walking trails exhibiting "lost" plants of the Southern California coast. Views on a clear day extend to Catalina Island and La Jolla in San Diego county. link Dana Point Headlands.
Climate
Dana Point enjoys a mild climate where temperatures tend to average around the 60's. The warmest month of the year is August with an average temperature of 79 degrees Fahrenheit. The coldest month is December with an average minimum temperature of 44 degrees Fahrenheit.
Demographics
The 2010 United States Census reported that Dana Point had a population of 33,351. The racial makeup of Dana Point was 28,701 White, 294 African American, 229 Native American, 1,064 Asian, 37 Pacific Islander, 1,952 from other races, and 1,074 from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 5,662 persons.
As of the census of 2000, there were 35,110 people, 14,456 households, and 9,280 families residing in the city. The population density was 5,290.1 inhabitants per square mile. There were 15,682 housing units at an average density of 2,362.8 per square mile. The racial makeup of the city was 87.25% White, 0.82% Black or African American, 0.57% Native American, 2.52% Asian, 0.10% Pacific Islander, 5.92% from other races, and 2.81% from two or more races. 15.49% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race.
There were 14,456 households out of which 26.2% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 51.4% were married couples living together, 8.8% had a female householder with no husband present, and 35.8% were non-families. 26.0% of all households were made up of individuals and 7.1% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.41 and the average family size was 2.90.
In the city the population was spread out with 20.6% under the age of 18, 7.1% from 18 to 24, 31.4% from 25 to 44, 28.0% from 45 to 64, and 13.0% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 40 years. For every 100 females there were 100.1 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 98.4 males.
The median income for a household in the city was $63,043, and the median income for a family was $73,373 (these figures had risen to $81,665 and $97,826 respectively as of a 2007 estimate). Males had a median income of $52,159 versus $38,902 for females. The per capita income for the city was $37,938. About 3.4% of families and 6.7% of the population were below the poverty line, including 6.8% of those under age 18 and 5.3% of those age 65 or over.
In 2010 Dana Point had a population of 33,351. The median age was 44.8 years. The racial and ethnic composition of the population was 76.4% non-Hispanic white, 0.9% black or African American, 0.7% Native American, 3.2% Asian, 0.1% Pacific Islander, 0.2% non-Hispanic of some other race, 3.2% reporting two or more races and 17.0% Hispanic or Latino. Mexicans made up 13.2% of the population.
Education
The city is served by Capistrano Unified School District. It includes Dana Hills High School, one of the oldest in the area which opened in 1972.
Emergency services
Fire protection in Dana Point is provided by the Orange County Fire Authority with ambulance service by Doctor's Ambulance. Law enforcement is provided by the Orange County Sheriff's Department. Year round marine safety services are provided by U.S. Ocean Safety Lifeguards on county beaches and California State Lifeguards on state beaches.
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