The Hermosa Beach Museum’s permanent collection ranges from Gabrielino Indian artifacts to the original Poop Deck bar sign. Surfboards on display tell the history of California Surfing, from kook boxes and Dale Velzy paddleboards to shapes from surfing’s (and Hermosa’s) Golden Era by Hap Jacobs, Greg Noll, Dewey Weber, Phil Becker and Bing Copeland.
Upcoming temporary exhibits under consideration include ones on the Los Angeles County Junior Lifeguards, the Hermosa Beach Fourth of July Ironman and surfing legend Hap Jacobs.
The museum is also home to the Beach Volleyball Hall of Fame and hosts beach volleyball’s hall of fame inductions each November.
But the museum is hidden at the rear of the Hermosa Beach Community Center and only recently installed street signage on Pier Avenue.
“I hear from people all the time that they’ve never been here,” curator Christopher Uebelhor said.” It’s unfortunate but it shows there’s a lot of potential for more visitors here.”
Uebelhor, who took over as curator in October hopes to raise awareness about the museum by expanding its hours. But to do so he needs to double the number of volunteer docents. Currently, the museum has just six docents and is open from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday, and from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. on Wednesdays. It is also open by appointment.
Uebelhor hopes to open at noon on weekends, but to do that needs more volunteer docents. The museum currently has about a dozen. He hopes to double that number.
710 Pier Avenue, Hermosa Beach. (310) 318-9421. HermosaBeachHistoricalSociety.org.
Manhattan Beach Historical Society Museum
In the Little Red Cottage in Polliwog Park
Open weekends, noon to 3 p.m.
1601 Manhattan Beach Blvd., Manhattan Beach
(310) 374-7575. ManhattanBeachHistorical.org.
Redondo Beach Historical Museum
In the 1904 Queen Anne House
Open weekends, noon to 4 p.m. Wednesdays 10 a.m. to 1 p.m.
| 302 Flagler Ln, Redondo Beach.(310) 318-0684. Redondo.org. |
