Web Extras: Sundown for Sunset Beach? A Closer Look at the Place Residents are Fighting to Save

Michelle Woo | Posted on


Turc's. The water tower. Mother's Tavern. Harbor House Cafe. Peckerwoods. Harpoon Harry's. Bruce Jones Surfboards. The post office.
 
These are just some of the colorful spots that make up Sunset Beach, Orange County's last unincorporated coastal community.  

“It's a real close-knit community,” says bartender Joy Monoghan. “We all get together for events such as ArtFest, the Pancake Breakfast and the Firemen's Ball. We'd like to preserve that small-town charm. We like Sunset Beach the way it is.”
 
But the area may soon disappear, at least on official maps. 

In the midst of a bitter annexation battle, we take a closer look at the sights, sounds and tastes of the eclectic enclave along Pacific Coast Highway. See what residents have to say about the place they call home in this week's cover feature/photo essay on Sunset Beach.  

And check out even more stuff that didn't make it into print behind the jump. 
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So what exactly constitutes Sunset Beach?: Click on the above map by Mark Peterson to enlarge. The borders remained so confusing to residents after Seal Beach's 1967 annexation of the community Surfside that, in 1998, columnist Bob Goldstone felt the need to write this cut-and-dried explanation in the Seal Beach weekly, Sun Newspapers: “The west side of Pacific Coast Highway from Warner Avenue to Anderson Street is part of Sunset Beach. Coral Cay is not. Park Avenue is in Sunset Beach, but Broadmoor is not.”


Web Extras: Click here to see even more outtakes and scenes from Sunset Beach, all shot by Keith May.