Remembering When
by
Jerry Person
Huntington Beach City Historian
Dedicated to the people of Huntington Beach
Remembering the Macklin Building
One nice thing about memory is its ability to recall what has been.This week let's go back in time and see what stood at 302 Pacific Coast Highway and what businesses occupied in it.
The Macklin Building as it looked in 1986
The "M" in script over the arched doorway of the large building at PCH and Third Street (Yes Third Street did go all the way to PCH) tells us that this was the Macklin Building, owned by former city trustee James H. Macklin. Macklin had this structure built in 1925 and one of the first tenants was Huntington Beach Motors, Inc., a 1926 dealership that sold the Hudson and Essex automobiles.
In 1933 it had become Lindley and Hartley Chevrolet and by the late 1930s Lindley had dropped out and it was now just H.W. Hartley Chevrolet and if you wanted to call to see if your car was repaired their phone number was 1721.
In May of 1941 Otto Culberton opened Culberton Chevrolet with great fanfare, not knowing seven months later the US. would be thrust into World War II and production of private cars would cease until after the war ended in 1945.
Culberton managed to stay until Ralph L. Williams took over in 1952, he continued selling Chevrolets until the early 1960s when Groth Chevrolet tool over.
I have a soft spot for Groth because my old Chevy pick-up truck that I drove around town for years came from Groth.
By 1964 Groth had moved out and the building was vacant until Harry Goodacre and Lou Semple opened Beach Auction House in 1965.
In January 1967 it had become a teen hangout called the Teen/20 Club and in the basement was the Salty Cellar Teen Club and the last occupant of this building was Waynes Automotive staying until 1985.
302 Pacific Coast Highway (formally Ocean Avenue) in 1986
The building with the "M" over the doorway was bulldozed by the owners on May 18, 1986 and this site along with most historic buildings along Pacific Coast Highway are gone because of city redevelopment and yet they are still fresh in our memories as if they were still standing today. Photos:Jerry Person
