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'Dana Point' is a city located in southern Orange County, California. The population was 35,110 at the 2000 census. As one of the few harbors along the Orange County coast, and with ready access via California State Route 1, it is a popular local destination for surfing and is home to a legendary surf break called Killer Dana.
The city was named after the headland of Dana Point, which was in turn named for Richard Henry Dana, Jr., author of ''Two Years Before the Mast'', which included a description of the area. Dana describes the locale, including neigboring San Juan Capistrano, as "the only romantic spot in California." Although Dana describes the anchorage as poor, it is the best available in the vicinity, and is now a developed harbor containing a museum replica of his ship, the Pilgrim. This area is designated California Historical Landmark #189.
One of the very few known specimens of the megamouth shark was caught off Dana Point in 1990.

Contents

Geography

Demographics

Emergency services

Education

History

Dana Point

Capistrano Beach

Famous residents

External links

References

Geography

Dana Point is located at (33.472210, -117.693038).
According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 76.2 km² (29.4 mi²). 17.2 km² (6.6 mi²) of it is land and 59.1 km² (22.8 mi²) of it (77.45%) is water.

Demographics

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 2,041.6/km² (5,290.1/mi²). There were 15,682 housing units at an average density of 911.9/km² (2,362.8/mi²). 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. 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.

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.

Education

The city is served by Capistrano Unified School District.

History

Dana Point

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. 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. 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--it was the first Catholic woship space constructed in either Capristrano Beach or Dana Point. The Chapel soon grew, received cannonical status as a parish (St. Edward the Confessor Roman Catholic Church and Parish School), and moved to its current bluff-top location in Dana Point, over looking Doheny State Beach. The original site of St. Edward Chapel and building that was built by the Doheneys still functions as San Felipe de Jesus Roman Catholic Church. Since 2002 San Felipe de Jesus has shared St. Edward the Confessor's clerical staff (the pastor of St. Edward's is the administrator of San Felipe) due to the priest shortage in the Diocese of Orange.

Famous residents

Many celebrities live in Dana Point or own vacation homes in the area.

★ Nicole Brown Simpson (Deceased)

★ Benny Hinn

★ Greg Maddux

★ Jean Vander Pyl (Deceased)

★ David Hasselhoff

★ Melinda Clarke

★ Ben Crenshaw

★ Andrew McMahon, of the bands Something Corporate and Jack's Mannequin

★ Aaron Bank, founder of US Army's Special Operation force

★ Julian McCarty

External links

★ Dana Point Online Guide

★ City of Dana Point website

★ Dana Point Visitors Bureau

★ Dana Point community website

References

★ Sunshine States - Legends of the Surf at Dana Point