Motor Camping Popular in Long Beach

With Route 66 centennial celebrations going on this year, many forget that this transcontinental highway owes its existence to the Federal Aid Highway Act of 1921. Besides creating a new route with Route 66, it also gave already existing “auto roads” numbers. Route 66 was a new highway, but it did incorporate 800 miles of existing roads before its completion in 1938.

I talked about this in detail in my June 12 article in the Beachcomber, but I thought I would share what auto travel was like before 1926 and Route 66.

What was it like to travel to Long Beach along “auto roads” before 1926? A cross-country trip in 1921 could be accomplished in 19 days, driving ten hours a day at 18 miles an hour (the average speed back then). Most of the 20,000 motorists who came across country in 1921 took longer, however, averaging around 30 days. The routes they took varied, but none were perfectly passable year-round.

The southern route was the National Old Trails Road, established in 1912, which ran from Baltimore to St. Louis and Kansas City and then through the Southwest to Los Angeles. The National Old Trails Road, established in 1912 as a private auto trail, was largely absorbed into the federal highway system in 1926, with its western section from New Mexico to Los Angeles becoming U.S. Route 66. Eastern segments, particularly from Ohio through Missouri, generally became part of U.S. Route 40.

The Lincoln Highway (est. 1913) was the most traveled summer route. Completed in 1926. It ran from New York to Pittsburgh, skirting Chicago, taking in Omaha, Cheyenne, Salt Lake City and ending up in San Francisco. The section that passed through the Sierras near Lake Tahoe was closed about six months each year because of snow. In-the-know motorists branched off at Ely, Nevada, and took the southwest Midland Trail, established 1913, to Los Angeles.

The Lincoln Highway is primarily associated with U.S. Route 30 from Philadelphia to Wyoming, but it was not a single numbered highway. As a "named" road, it was mostly absorbed into the U.S. Numbered Highway System in 1926, which assigned it various numbers, including U.S. 1, U.S. 40 and U.S. 50.

The Midland Trail ran from New York to both Los Angeles and San Francisco, south of the Lincoln Highway most of the way. It is now U.S. Highway 60 and is a major east-west route stretching approximately 2,655 miles from southwestern Arizona to Virginia Beach, Virginia. Its western terminus is at an interchange with Interstate 10 near Brenda, Arizona (east of Quartzsite).

The two northernmost transcontinental routes were the National Parks Highway (est.1916, now U.S. Route 89) and the Yellowstone Trail (est. 1912, now U.S. Route 12) running from Chicago to Seattle. It was a "named highway" marked by painted yellow rocks or poles, which was largely replaced by the federal numbered highway system in 1926.

Facilities along the roads were limited and many road tourists used their vehicles to sleep in. In many instances autos were converted into sleepers, known as motor campers.

There were many manufactured outfits that could be purchased, such as the Ideal Auto Bed manufactured in Long Beach. In 1923, the company launched a nationwide campaign to demonstrate their product to both car owners and auto dealers. Their bed, consisting of brass, aluminum or steel tubing folded into a compact package, measuring 6 by 26 inches, could be installed in three minutes without cutting up seats or altering the car. It would be placed under existing seats for a soft, springy cushion on which to sleep.

All beds would be made in Long Beach, F. E. Keath, former head of the Texas Automobile Association, told the Long Beach Press (4/23/1923). Sales must not have been as expected. The last ad ran in October 1923.

Because of poor road conditions, it was always best to find a place to stay before nightfall. The motor camper of the 1920s could find himself in a city park one night, a farmer’s orchard the next. Many western cities maintained campgrounds for touring motorists.

Very often there were electric lights, stoves, water, firewood, toilet facilities, sometimes even tables, chairs and showers. In almost all cases these accommodations were free and the camper could remain and enjoy a city’s hospitality as long as they wanted.

In Long Beach there was a Municipal Auto Camp near Belmont Pier. In May 1920, a private camp was set up by fish packer L. P. Spear about 300 yards east of the city’s Municipal Automobile Camp. When land along Alamitos Peninsula became valuable, another camping site was quickly found on the west side, between the Salt Lake railroad tracks, and Seaside Boulevard next to the harbor. Signal Hill was also a popular camping spot as was Recreation Park.

Though time spent in the campgrounds was limited to a few weeks, many took advantage of the sites and formed "tent cities." Houses and apartments were difficult to find in days following World War I, especially for families with children. Spear was aware of the housing shortage and came up with a proposal to build a 150 two-bedroom tent city complete with sanitary facilities, water, gas and electricity between the Municipal Auto Camp and Spear's auto camp.

Belmont Heights residents, however, were not happy with what was happening to the beach east of their pier. It appeared as if many people were moving in permanently. Spear’s permit request was denied.

Long Beach was the first western city to ask for a nominal charge for camping. The city felt it was needed to regulate the campgrounds and to supply the facilities demanded by campers. The money was used to hire a camp manager and establish kitchens with gas stoves. At first looked upon as the "black sheep" of Pacific coast resorts because of the charge, statistics were to prove that Long Beach's plan worked − it had the largest number of campers of any Southern California resort.

By 1921, other cities were following the Long Beach example and, under the sponsorship of the Automobile Club of Southern California, a “campground convention” was held in the city in April 1921. This was the first time in motoring history that cities had gotten together to establish standards and rules for motoring tourists.

The rapid increase in transcontinental motor travel was causing a large demand for camps. For instance, in 1914 one hundred cars passed through the Cajon pass, by 1920 ten thousand autos from eastern states had used the same highway. While the vast majority of these motor tourists were respectable, there was a disreputable element appearing which made supervision imperative.

The outcome of the camping convention brought about an understanding that motorists would be allowed to spend only two weeks in any one camp, no car repairs would be allowed, and no traveling salesmen would be allowed to make his headquarters there. Fees would be charged based upon the amount invested to provide facilities, though they shouldn’t become so elegant as to compete with local hotels.

By the time Route 66 was completed in 1938, motor camping was already a popular activity. Magazines such as the Auto Club’s “Touring Topics” gave readers suggest itinerates, a list of reliable garages and mechanics and, if camping was not your thing, recommended hotels.

Camping continues to be popular today with over 28,000 campgrounds in the U.S., but finding space has become difficult. Best to schedule far ahead to ensure a spot.

Claudine Burnett is a retired research librarian who has written more than 10 books on Long Beach history as well as numerous journal articles. For more, visit her website www. claudineburnettbooks.com.