The Beacon Light Mission served its last Christmas dinner in 1970 after 67 years of offering the traditional Christmas program. It came into being as a sailor's mission in 1903 with meetings aboard an abandoned tugboat moored on the east side of San Pedro Bay. Its first land-based location was at 331 S. Beacon St. and in 1916 it moved into its current location (shown here) at 430 S. Beacon St. In 1945 the mission began serving non-seamen as well as seamen. As of 1970, its future was uncertain. (1)
When I photographed it, Beacon Light appeared to still provide dormitory space, but the
bulldozers were getting close.
Barely discernable in the photo, three men are seated on the mission steps. Later
I met them in a bar on 6th Street. They were friendly and interested
in what I was doing there with my camera. At their urging I took their picture and it
became one of my favorites. It appears on the next
page.
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