Moonstone Beach was a tourist attraction in the beach community of

Redondo Beach, California Redondo Beach (Spanish for ) is a coastal city in Los Angeles County, California, United States, located in the South Bay (Los Angeles County), South Bay region of the Greater Los Angeles area. It is one of three adjacent Beach Cities, beach c ...

from the late 1880s to the early 1920s.

Historical attraction

Storms had deposited the moonstones along the beach from the

Hermosa Beach Hermosa Beach (, Spanish language, Spanish for "Beautiful") is a beachfront city in Los Angeles County, California, United States. Its population was 19,728 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 U.S. Census. The city is located in the South Ba ...

city boundary south to about Diamond Street in Redondo Beach. Moonstones belong to the mineral family of feldspars that provide almost two-thirds of all stones on Earth. As the City of Redondo Beach took shape, visitors day-tripping from

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

as well as tourists from the East Coast gathered the moonstones from the many mounds of gemstones washed ashore. It was a popular pastime for amateurs and gemologists alike. Although not very attractive in their natural state, the stones could be cut and polished into beautiful jewelry. One such case involved a local carpenter who sent a moonstone

brooch A brooch (, ) is a decorative jewellery item designed to be attached to garments, often to fasten them together. It is usually made of metal, often silver or gold or some other material. Brooches are frequently decorated with enamel or with gem ...

in 1911 to his fiancé living in New York City. The carpenter persuaded his fiancé to join him in Southern California as his bride as he bragged about the beautiful moonstones washing up on the local beaches.

Over-harvesting and decline

Builders soon found that the stones were useful for more than just jewelry. The sand and stones became components of streets, sidewalks and foundations. It is believed that 10,000 loads of the stones were crushed and used in the foundation of the

Southern California Edison Southern California Edison (SCE), the largest subsidiary of Edison International, is the primary electric utility company for much of Southern California. It provides 15 million people with electricity across a service territory of approximate ...

plant built in Redondo Beach in 1907. At the urging of the Redondo Beach Chamber, the Los Angeles & Redondo Railway Co. served notice to companies hauling away the sand and stones to discontinue the practice. The desire was to preserve the Moonstone Beach as a tourist attraction. Much of the damage had already been done. With the addition of breakwaters, dredging, and a harbor in the late 1950s, the contour of the Redondo Beach waterfront has changed and moonstones are no longer deposited along its shores.

Legacy

Due to the popularity of the gemstones, local streets were named to honor Moonstone Beach in the late 1880s. Beginning just south of the popular beach, streets running east–west feature gemstone names alphabetically such as Agate, Beryl, Carnelian, Diamond, Emerald, Garnet, Jasper, Opal, Pearl, Ruby, Sapphire, and Topaz. In commemoration of the popular beach, the City of Redondo Beach has designated a small parcel of land within the harbor as Moonstone Park.

References

{{reflist Redondo Beach, California

Historical attraction

Over-harvesting and decline

Legacy

See also

References