Sycamore Cover Pier Pt. Mugu State Park A Cursory Historical Investigation Alexander D. Bevil, Historian II California State Parks Southern Service Center 18 March 2010 The earliest reference to an ocean pier off the mouth of Big Sycamore Canyon is on a 1949 Point Mugu quad topographic map. There is no indication of a pier, much less a coast highway on an earlier 1925 Hueneme Quad topographic map. The pier appears to have been built after the opening of the Coast Highway between Oxnard and Santa Monica through the Ringe Ranch (Malibu) in late 1929. The earliest mention of a fishing pier at Point Mugu is in a March 16, 1930 Los Angeles Times article "Early Fishing along Coast Reported Good." It states "At a point some miles north of Santa Monica, known as Point Mugu, good halibut and perch fishing has been had from the pier." A graphic in the June 11, 1939 Los Angeles Times article, "Fish Are Where You Find Them," indicates that there was a live bait boat at Point Mugu. There were 17 such boats associated with coastal fishing spots from Santa Barbara to San Diego during this time. The graphic also indicates that Pt. Mugu had access to an offshore fishing barge, one of 13 along the Southern California Coast. A deepwater pier would have facilitated the bait boat and a means for ferrying anglers to the fishing barge. A later article, "Southland Ocean Fishing Fleet Rebuilt for Year's Activity" in the March 20, 1940 Los Angeles Times reports that the Pt. Mugu and other coastal piers were replaced due to storm damage the previous September. Coastal piers like the one at Pt. Mugu were reportedly associated with a multi-million dollar sportsfishing industry. There were plans to install "larger [fishing] boats [at Pt. Mugu] to be used on the Anacapa Island run, as well as complete rebuilding of the shale road to the Mugu resort itself, are nearing completion." Five months later, the Times reported in an article titled "Storm-Wrecked Structures Rise again Near Oxnard" that a tropical hurricane had destroyed the "historic Point Mugu Fish Camp" "about 10 miles south of Oxnard on the Roosevelt Highway," on September 28, 1939. The article went on to say that Walt Wheldon and his former partner, Earl Steckel, had developed "one of the finest resorts of its type on the Pacific Coast." Steckel, along with 25 others, had been killed when the fishing boat "Spray" crashed ashore during the storm. Wheldon oversaw the fishing resort’s reconstruction, which included a new pier, salvaged store building, and several new cabanas along the shore. Motion- picture companies reportedly rented the latter while filming "South Sea island pictures" at Pt. Mugu. The article states "A new and longer pier is crowded daily by fishing enthusiasts, while up the beach a few shattered timbers, an occasional cork life preserver rotting in the surf give mute evidence to one of the Southland’s worst marine disasters." Regarding the hurricane’s impact on the local sport fishing industry, a September 12, 1971 LA Times article reports that the fall 1939 hurricane was one of the worst in Southern California’s history. The storm, which resulted in $2 million of damage over a three-day period, caused thirty foot waves that slammed onto beaches and destroyed coastal resorts and piers like those at Pt. Mugu. At least 45 persons, included the 26 at Pt. Mugu, drowned "while trying to come ashore in thundering surf." The article stated that before the storm, "Pt. Mugu was nothing but a fishing camp with a store, a pier, and a dozen cabins." The article’s author had interviewed Walter Welton (then in his early 80s) about what happened at Pt. Mugu. He was part owner of several fishing boats, including the 51-foot "Spray," which he had chartered to a group of Los Angeles fishermen, and the 37-foot "Lure," which he had rented to 15 local anglers. Only two half-drowned men from the "Spray" survived. They said that a "monster wave" crushed the boat’s superstructure and "everything above the deck was wiped away," killing everyone inside the pilot house and cabin. The captain of the "Lure" managed to keep his ship in the lee shelter of Anacapa Island. The next day the boat had to anchor outside the breakers off Big Sycamore Cove because the pier was gone. All 15 passengers managed to safely swim to shore. A June 8, 1941 LA Times article, "Silver Hordes Challenge Southland Sea Anglers" states that the Pt. Mugu pier was good for halibut fishing and that "considerable calico bass have been taken around Anacapa Island from the live- bait boats." There were no articles in the LA Times on-line database after 1971 that mentioned the Pt. Mugu pier. The 1949 quad map indicates the location of a "Trailer Court" between the "Roosevelt Highway" [PCH] and the foot of the pier at the mouth of Big Sycamore Canyon. A November 13, 1956 LA Times article reported that a 32-year-old sailor stationed at the nearby Pt. Mugu missile test center, was electrocuted while preparing a trailer residence at Point Mugu. Another trailer accident resulted in a fire that burned its occupant. The Trailer Court is no longer extant in the 1967 update of the 1949 quad map. The earliest records that the Southern Service Center has on file pertaining to Pt. Mugu SP’s acquisition and development date back to 1967. The State of California acquired 6,438 acres of former Rancho Guadalasca from William Richard Broome on June 19, 1968. Originally classified as a State Recreation area, it soon became reclassified as a State Park. The earliest California State Parks documentary reference to an ocean pier at the foot of Big Sycamore Canyon is on Point Mugu State Recreation Area Ownership Map dated January 1968. A note states that the "Location of the Pier [is] Shown on 7 Record of Survey 56. That record is not included in the SSC file. The pier appears to have been approximately 500’ long. The original owner of the parcel of land on which the pier stood was the Sycamore Properties. A Notification of Real Property Transfer states that the property, which was valued at $1,380 on January 30, 1970, contained $1,550,000 in improvements. The State Public Works Department, acting for the State of California, acquired the property through condemnation. A February 15, 1972 Development Plan Narrative for Pt. Mugu indicated that the Department of General Services "is clearing the former mobile home and trailer facilities" at "Big Sycamore Beach." It does not, however, describe the facilities, nor does it mention a pier. An early park map lists the beach area as "Sycamore Cove." There are no references for a pier in the park unit's Resource Inventory Report. Although it is not dated, it that appears to have been written no later than 1 April 1976. (It mentions that the Vietnam War is "winding down." U. S. involvement started to de-escalate around March 5, 1971, and most of the combat troops had already left the country before the fall of Saigon on April 30, 1975). There is also no mention of a pier in the park unit's January 1977 General Plan. The California Coastal Records Project has several oblique aerial photos of Big Sycamore Beach/Cove showing the pier’s location in reference to what appears to be a trailer park.
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