When It Was Shiny & New: The Purissima House
Gone now—but here’s the Purissima House–saloon, restaurant, overnight rooms–south of Half Moon Bay.
The Purissima House was the business anchor for the potato-growing town of Purissima, a place that competed with Half Moon Bay for political power. When a blight wiped out the crops, the economy collapsed and Purissima finally turned into a ghost town. At the end of Prohibition, when the buildings fell into disuse, they vanished from the country landscape. Today you’d be lucky to find any remnants of the past (other than a very cool and hard-to-find “antique” cemetery).
Coastside Gas Stations from the Past
Top to Bottom: Half Moon Bay at Highway 92; Half Moon Bay at Kelly & Main; Montara, off Highway 1; Moss Beach, Etheldore; & San Gregorio on the San Gregorio Road.
On The Alhambra: Sold & Scheduled for Tear-Down
If you know El Granada, this house might be familiar to you. It is the only one-story house (circa 1940s-50s?) surrounded by a forest of apartments–around the corner from the post office.
Buon Gusto Saloon “Good Taste” In Early Half Moon Bay
Opening Day
Meet Me At The Occidental Hotel
…The popular 19th century Half Moon Bay hotel where intrepid stagecoach driver “Buckskin” Bob Rawls dropped weary passengers off– after a thrilling ride over dusty, serpentine Highway 92.
The Historic Zaballa House, A B& B I love…
House In The Country
Half Moon Bay
Signs Of A Different Kind On This Old Moss Beach Store
Can you see the reflection of the old Moss Beach schoolhouse in the windows? There’s an ad for “California Seeds”, Bass-Hueter paint, mixed and ready for use, and on sale at “here”–and two other signs, both of which say: “For Sale Below Cost”.
Photo: Is this the same building?
The Moss Beach Grammar School–the reflection seen in the windows of the building above.