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Arch Beach Lighthouse - 1919

This charming lighthouse in Arch Beach was built in 1919 for a Metro movie called "Should a Woman Tell?", starring Alice Lake and Jack Mulhall. It remained in place for a few months, and was then torn down. This photograph of the lighthouse, and another from a different view, are the only two pictures that have ever surfaced in known history, as even the footage from the movie has not survived the ravages of time.


From Jim Sleeper's "Great Movies Shot In Orange County", published by California Classics, Trabuco Canyon CA - 1980


The need for electricity during the filming of the night shots resulted in Edison power poles being erected south from Sleepy Hollow. The locals tapped into the lines, thus bringing light to their seaside shacks for the first time.

From Jim Sleeper's "Great Movies Shot In Orange County", published by California Classics, Trabuco Canyon CA - 1980

One year after the first lighthouse was torn down, an exact copy was erected to the south at Aliso Point for another movie called "Shore Acres" starring Alice Lake again. It remained standing for about a year, and became a regular feature of Joe Skidmore's advertisements promoting "Delightful Camping Spots Along Laguna's Shore".

Only one photograph of this second lighthouse, seen here on the left, has survived, and again, the film itself has been lost to time.

© 1986 - 2010 Steve Turnbull
last updated March 22, 2024