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What Secret Does This Street Harbor?
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Whether it’s scrolling through r/whereisthis or going on a true crime YouTube binge, I love a good mystery (must be a big surprise from a mystery blog writer).
This week, a video from a few months ago about lost media resurfacing on YouTube piqued my interest.
"I only had one thought: I am going to find that location."
The video covers footage uploaded to YouTube from an old FBI VHS tape. It is chilling from start to finish, but the 5:56 mark in particular caught my eye– there is a 12 second clip of an undisclosed street somewhere. After I finished the video, that street scene kept replaying in my head and I only had one thought: I am going to find that location.
Important details from the VHS: - Road is 3 lanes wide each way
- Filmed from a parking lot at a busy intersection
- Large tree in the median
- Tall decorative hedges
- Marquis sign and blue castle spire visible on the left
- Letters "ers" on bottom of sign
- Symbol on sign looks like an F stylized similar to forte symbol
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A Step Back In Time
Using the context that the VHS included info about Disneyland and comments from other YouTube users I narrowed my search radius to the area of Anaheim surrounding Disneyland.
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The footage was likely from 1995, so current map data proves mostly ineffective; good thing time travel exists! Well at least on Google Earth it does… There are a few roads with the correct amount of lanes surrounding Disney, so it came down to looking at each intersection on the ‘95 aerial map and matching the foliage to the footage.
One specific intersection was especially interesting because it seemingly matches the criteria to fit the tape and other YouTube users commented that they were familiar with the area in the 90’s and thought the footage looked like S Harbor Blvd, specifically where it meets Disney Way.
(img src: Google Earth, 10/1995)
Ok, case closed right?
Well I can’t settle for a possible location match, I need something solid that proves it’s the same location!
The street being filmed is S Harbor Blvd in Anaheim, but without any street signs or business names visible, it’s almost impossible to pinpoint an exact location-- there is luckily something unique in the footage though: a marquis sign with a castle spire, the letters “ers” visible, and the edge of a curvy logo.
I decided this sign would be what I use to confirm the location, but how to find exactly what business the sign belonged to in 1995?
Ghost of Property Past
The property that currently exists at the intersection of Harbor and Disney is Grand Legacy Hotel at 1650 S Harbor Blvd. According to this article from 2015, it was the Ramada Maingate between 1998 and 2016, but there isn’t any info on what it was prior to 1998. This is valuable info as it could just be the answer to what the marquis sign in the footage is for!
I did a basic Google search for “Ramada Anaheim” and set a custom date range of 1996-1998, which dug up an LA Times article about rowdy teens at the “Ramada Maingate Saga Inn on Harbor Boulevard”... wait, what is Saga Inn?! Back to Google for another search I guess!
Searching the Saga Inn in Anaheim pulled up the Saga Motor Hotel, and it turned out to be a treasure trove of really cool information about the history of the beloved property and the surrounding area.
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The Saga Motor Hotel was built in 1958 and was located directly across from the main entrance of Disneyland. Over time, it featured a pool, a coffee shop, a cocktail lounge, and other cool amenities such as the Motion Picture Hall of Fame!
It also featured a marquis sign with a jousting knight, which is related to the castle spire I’m searching for but it’s just not the right sign.
If Saga Motel isn’t the right sign, then the right one has to be in the same parking lot just out of frame! There are quite a few images online facing the Saga Motel sign and main Disney Entrance sign, but none I can find face the other direction towards the corner at Disney Way.
The street corner is now a dirt lot, but the aerial image from 1995 shows an area that looks like a golf course or something like that. This business will actually likely be the key to solving this mystery!
(img src: Google Earth, 10/1995)
Didn't Really Need to Research Saga Motel
To find exactly what business existed on that plot in 1995, I headed over to the official Anaheim Property Info website. This is an intuitive, searchable map that designates property lines and stores records of past land use and business permits for each plot.
“I started shaking a little from excitement!”
Using this map shows that while the existing property of Grand Legacy Hotel is at 1650 S Harbor Blvd, the corner plot has a different address of 1656 S Harbor Blvd. There are also some land use documents available for this property, so I decided to search through these to see if they could reveal any more info about the past business that existed there. This felt like a long shot, but why not right? I’m already this deep in might as well dig into some old city planning commission documents.
Sure enough, a document was drafted in 1981 requesting the expansion of an existing miniature golf course! So it was a golf course!
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The name of the mini golf course is of course not in the document, but a quick search of the owners name and company came back with a chain of entertainment centers called “Golf ‘N Stuff”.
Finally seeing the name of this business was such a big step forward I started shaking a little from excitement! This has to be it! I kind of already knew what to expect when searching Golf N’ Stuff, and that one last google search did in fact reveal everything I needed to confirm the filming location of the VHS footage.
“So it was a golf course!”
The Golf N’ Stuff Anaheim location was located at 1656 S Harbor Blvd, but was demolished in the 90's. There is an existing postcard image of the golf course, but I can’t find any images of the parking lot or main sign. However, there are other locations of this same brand and luckily they have more images, including pictures of their brand logo and most importantly a blue castle spire!
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Closing The Case
Matching the info from Golf ‘N Stuff to the info on the marquis sign in the VHS footage instantly lines up: The F symbol is the last letter of the Golf ‘N Stuff logo and the letters “ers” are likely the last letters in the words Family Fun Centers.
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With this breakthrough, combined with my previous research into matching the roads and foliage to old photo data, I have enough evidence to be satisfied that I have found the correct location!
So actually case closed:
This VHS footage was filmed at 33°48'26.13"N, 117°54'54.33"W
around 1995 near Golf ‘N Stuff at 1656 S Harbor Blvd in Anaheim CA
Useful Sites For Exploring Anaheim History
I used a lot of resources to find the conclusion, but these sites were especially useful in painting a picture of Anaheim through the years:
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