Ventura’s Pierside Bathhouse

Ventura’s Pierside Bathhouse. Culture and Entertainment By The Sea. , The Ventura Bathhouse opened for business around 1917. The two-story recreational center at the foot of California Street near the beach contained a bathhouse with an indoor, salt-water, "plunge" swimming pool on the first floor, and an auditorium for lectures, exhibits and dancing on the second. In the winter months the unheated pool was covered with a special wooden floor for roller-skating. , From Charleston to Jitterbug , Touring swing bands played in the auditorium to packed crowds on Wednesday and Saturday evenings, including matinee idol and "crooner" Rudy Vallie who sang through his signature megaphone. Couples enjoyed ocean air and romance off the dance floor's small balconies. , The End of Swing and Plunge , After the Second World War many changes came to Ventura. Styles changed and the pastimes valued by one generation were seen as "old fashioned" by the next. With fewer and fewer people coming to the bathhouse, it was at last abandoned and demolished in the early 1950s. , Culture and Entertainment By The Sea , The first Ventura chautauqua was assembled in a large tent on the sand near San Jon Barranca in 1909. Chautauquas were events that flourished in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, bringing nationally famous speakers, talented performers and current topics to rural Ventura. Attendees rented small tents on the sand or brought their own. By 1913, ten thousand people attended the ten day event. A permanent pavillion near Pierpont Beach was constructed and people from all parts of the county arrived by train, automobile and buggy. This was also a time to enjoy a change of pace, the sounds of the surf, and nightly clambakes on the beach. By 1920, the popularity of radio and moving pictures diverted interest, and the chautauqua became an event of the past. , The Transition from Wharf to Pier , Coca-Cola Fishing during the 1950s In the early 1900s, larger steamships began replacing the smaller coastal vessels that once carried most local cargo. At the same time, more efficient railroad service gave the shipping industry its first competition. Gradually, the wharf was eclipsed by the railroad and by major ports serviced by the larger shipping companies. When an oil barge cast of the last line from the wharf in 1936, an era of 64 years of maritime service came to an end. Soon the working wharf became popular as a recreational pier, used by residents and visitors alike for fishing and various pastimes.