Quote:
Originally Posted by ethereal_reality
FW, was there ever a beacon on the top of Baldwin Hills?
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Actually, yes, there used to be a beacon atop the Baldwin Hills. But it wasn't an aircraft beacon. Instead it was beacon of Yuletide
warmth and good cheer.
Near the NW corner of the five-point intersection of La Brea, Stocker, and Overhill, one of the old oil derricks had strings of red lights
that ran from the top platform to the ground, all the way around the derrick. There was also a star with white lights on the very top of
the derrick. The star may have rotated, but I don't remember for sure.
The article below describes the beginnings of what is now Kenneth Hahn State Recreation Area. On the famous oil derrick I've
approximated one of the strings of red lights and also the star (which, again, had white lights). The article implies that the lights
were left up all year but turned on only during the Holiday Season:
April 25, 1976,
Los Angeles Times @ ProQuest via LAPL
I don't know when the lights were first installed, but I remember seeing this oil derrick lit up in the mid-to-late 1960s. The lights
and the derrick lasted until the mid-to-late 1980s, if I remember correctly. Do other NLAers recall this seasonal light display?
This c. 1952 photo looks north from the west side of Overhill Drive at the five-point intersection of Overhill, La Brea, and Stocker.
I may have arrowed the decorated derrick, or it may have been out of the photo on the left side:
257391 @ HDL -- Doug White photo
Of the structures below that appear to be oil derricks, I believe I've squared the one with the lights and star, which may not
have been installed at the time of the photo:
November 26, 1965, Flight C_25019, Frame 410 at
UCSB
A utility pole at or near the site of the old derrick now has strings of multi-colored lights, but looking at various GSV images,
I don't think the lights are left up all year. I'm not sure when this new tradition began, but I believe the lights are in the oil
field, not in the park:
December 2017 GSV
FW photo taken earlier today at KHSRA