Historic Anchor Recovered?

By Danielle Gillespie, Staff Writer

2009-12-03
While lifeguard Andrew Greger was scuba diving off the south end of Will Rogers State Beach three weeks ago, he discovered what appears to be an anchor from the late 1800s.

  'Our assumption is that it is off the tall ships that used to anchor at the Long Wharf,' said Mickey Gallagher, central section chief for the Los Angeles County Fire Department Lifeguard Division.

  The Long Wharf was a deepwater port with a 4,720-foot wooden pier that extended into the ocean from the mouth of Potrero Canyon. Southern Pacific Railroad Company head Collis P. Huntington built the wharf in 1893, precipitating a 12-year political debate over whether San Pedro or Santa Monica Bay should be the official harbor of Los Angeles. San Pedro won out in 1897, and the Long Wharf was eventually dismantled.

  After Greger, a rescue boat captain with the Los Angeles County Fire Department Lifeguard Division, saw the anchor shaft and a tip of the fluke poking out of the sand, he asked if he and the other lifeguards could recover it.

  Not realizing there was any historical significance, Gallagher agreed to let the lifeguards lift the anchor on November 17 as part of an underwater recovery drill as long as it was placed in the garden near headquarters, located south of the Santa Monica Pier. Gallagher thought it would give the outdoor garden a nautical look.

  'It wasn't until we had it in Santa Monica that we realized it could be more than just a regular anchor,' Gallagher said. He has since asked Greger to contact maritime museums to invite experts to examine the anchor.

  'I do hope it is a piece of history that we recovered,' Gallagher said.

  Lifeguards at Will Rogers and Topanga State Beaches would like the anchor relocated to Will Rogers, so that it can be displayed alongside the rock monument and railroad tie that memorialize the Long Wharf, lifeguard Sam Bertolet told the Palisadian-Post.

  'The beach lifeguards at Will Rogers and Topanga are willing to put up their own money, time and vehicles to transport the anchor to the Long Wharf historical site and purchase a plaque, which will have information about the anchor,' Bertolet said. 'The lifeguards will also secure the anchor on site so it cannot be stolen.'

  Gallagher responded that if the anchor has historical value, he would consider moving it from Santa Monica to Will Rogers or a maritime museum. If the anchor were displayed at Will Rogers, he would need to study ways to preserve it and prevent vandalism.

  'I want to do the right thing,' Gallagher said, adding that he also wants to respect the people who found the anchor by including their names on a plaque.

  Ernest Marquez, who grew up in Santa Monica Canyon and co-authored 'Port of Los Angeles: An Illustrated History from 1850 to 1945,' thinks the anchor could be a nice addition to the historical monument he created (with the support of the Pacific Palisades Historical Society) at Will Rogers.

  'Anchors were placed a distance from the wharf with a buoy attached for vessels to tie to if there was no space at the wharf,' said Marquez, a San Fernando Valley resident. 'It is possible the anchor found is one of those anchors. If so, then it would be a part of the wharf and its history.'