A View from the Top

Things sure are looking up on Signal Hill. Every time I visit Home Depot, I look forward to taking a detour up the graceful bend of Skyline Drive to Hilltop Park and looking for changes. The park is almost 5 years old now, but the landscaping and monuments still seem fresh. I love to read about the hill’s place in the history of the area.

Before white people settled, it was a lookout point for the native people and the Long Beach coastline was named Bay of Smokes by Spanish explorers who spotted the watch fires on Signal Hill’s summit. The fresh water supply attracted farmers and some persisted in growing crops and roses even the oil boom of 1921, when there were so many oil derricks along the city’s steep ridge, it was called Porcupine Hill. In the panic after the 1933 earthquake, many people rushed to the top of Signal Hill to escape the tidal wave that was rumored to be capable of devastating the lowlands along the shore of Long Beach.

In the fifties, a soapbox derby event was held annually on the death-defying slope of Hill Street. Members of a Model T Ford club used to parade up the hill to show off the reliability of their old Tin Lizzies. I’ve even heard that skate board competitions used to be held there. It boggle the mind.

My favorite time to visit Signal Hill is just before sunset. It like a 3D geography lesson taking in the San Gabriels to the north and the urban clusters of Westwood and downtown L.A. and of course the Hollywood sign. As sunlight dims, the city lights start to sparkle -- maybe not quite as brilliant as Mulholland Drive, but definitely more expansive. Then looking south, the entire shoreline of Long Beach is visible including the vast harbor and the sun sinking behind Palos Verdes. Surrounded by the mountains and the sea, it’s easy to understand why so many people are drawn to this place of stunning physical beauty and why they put up with so much aggravation to stay here.

The city of Signal Hill seems to be working with developers to plan attractive and livable housing along the steep slopes. What views the multi-story condos must have. Discovery Well Park incorporates basketball court, playgrounds and a community center among still operating grasshopper pumps. Take a walk up the steep slope with the Sierra Club for a great aerobic workout and a quick refresher course in local history.

This is how I summed up the glories of Signal Hill, which appeared in a slightly edited version in the May/June 2006 issue of Westways Magazine:

I love to take visitors to the Discovery Well on Signal Hill, the site where the California oil boom began when a gusher exploded here in 1921. Out-of-towners enjoy learning about this often-overlooked part of history and watching the pumps still in operation bob lazily up and down. Nearby, Panorama Promenade offers an easy ¼ mile stroll with spectacular views of downtown Los Angeles and the Hollywood sign as well as the Pacific coastline and Catalina Island. For a crowd-pleasing finale, I drive my guests down the breath-takingly steep Hill Street, as exciting as any roller coaster.