Laguna Beach – A Look Back: Paving Coast Highway
By Dr. Gregg DeNicola
This photo takes us back to 1932, showing the grading and paving of Pacific Coast Highway in Laguna Beach, although records show the paving was a two-year project from 1930-1932.
Courtesy of Dr. Gregg DeNicola from his personal collection
Grading and paving Coast Highway in Laguna Beach, circa 1932
This was a major milestone to connect Newport Beach to the Dana Point area. The original name was the Roosevelt Highway, and the coastal cities’ Chambers of Commerce succeeded in having the name officially changed to Pacific Coast Highway in 1941.
However, in Laguna, the highway is never referred to as PCH or Pacific Coast Highway. Everything north of Broadway is North Coast Highway, and everything south of Broadway is South Coast Highway.
The exact location of this photo is easy to see – off to the right, we notice the signage for the Coast Royal subdivision in South Laguna. This tract was laid out in 1906, with old inland detours being the main way to reach it. When the Roosevelt Highway was being graded in 1930-1932, engineers carved a stable road connecting the tract with the Roosevelt Highway.
The tract proudly placed promotional signs along the new highway, as we see in the photo. This location would lie just south of Aliso Beach as you drive south on South Coast Highway. Today, Coast Royal is an affluent enclave with multimillion-dollar homes and modern luxury residences, such as the Laguna Royale condos.
The sandy shore of Coast Royal Beach just below this neighborhood (also called West Street Beach) is a hidden paradise with clear turquoise waters and tidepools.
If you want to check it out, be prepared – it is accessible to the general public via a steep, somewhat hidden stairway just north of West Street.
