Situated along the Pacific Coast Highway, Seal Beach is the coastal portal between Los Angeles and Orange Counties. This vacation spot and largely residential community separates the City of Long Beach from the broad, open, southerly beaches of the OC--Sunset, Bolsa Chica, Huntington, Newport, Laguna, and beyond. The regional fame of Anaheim Landing and Anaheim Bay preceded the founding of Bay City, which became Seal Beach after too much mail intended for Bay City found its way to the "City by the Bay," San Francisco. In the early 20th century, the popular Joy Zone was a huge beachside amusement park in Seal Beach enjoyed by thousands of vacationers brought south by the Pacific Electric Red Car Line. This entertaining retrospective documents these landmarks, as well as local residents, events, Seal Beach Pier, the nearby U.S. Naval Weapons Station, and other points of interest.

The wooden pier, tree-lined Main Street and ocean views, coupled with a prosperous and happy community, led "Forbes "magazine to name Seal Beach one of the five friendliest towns in America. Getting there, however, was a bumpy adventure. Starting in the 1860s as Anaheim Landing, the first seaport in what would become Orange County, it soon became a summer retreat for squatters and illegal saloons. Despite the efforts of real estate developers to turn the town into an amusement resort and an early center for aviation and motion pictures, Seal Beach became neighboring Long Beach's tavern, brothel and gambling destination. But order and prosperity eventually prevailed to create today's quiet residential city. Join author Larry Strawther as he tracks Seal Beach's evolution from raucous port to cherished community.