Crystal Cove Exhibition
You’re Invited to the exhibition reception at UC Irvine Libraries!
Join UC Irvine Libraries to celebrate the opening of our newest exhibit, Crystal Cove and the California Dream.
Wednesday, October 28, 2026
5:30 – 7:30 p.m.
Student Center and Langson Library, UC Irvine
Exhibit program, viewing, and reception
RSVP here. Walk-ins welcome
PROGRAM
5:00 p.m. Guest Check-In (Crystal Cove Auditorium, UC Irvine Student Center)
5:30 p.m. Welcome and Fireside Chat with Laura Davick (Crystal Cove Auditorium, UC Irvine Student Center)
6:45 p.m. Exhibit Viewing and Reception (Langson Library Lobby, UC Irvine)
GUEST SPEAKER
Laura Davick is a conservationist, community leader, and coauthor of Crystal Cove Cottages: Islands in Time on the California Coast. A third-generation “Coveite,” Laura has dedicated her life to protecting and preserving Crystal Cove. In 1999, she founded the nonprofit Alliance to Rescue Crystal Cove, which played a pivotal role in helping defeat a plan to create a luxury resort at the Cove by raising public awareness and forming a coalition of State Parks officials, community leaders, and other interested groups. Under her leadership, the Alliance, later renamed the Crystal Cove Conservancy, shifted its efforts from rescue to restoration, education, and conservation. The Alliance was named the official Cooperating Association benefiting Crystal Cove State Park in 2003 and later was awarded the concession management contract. Through a deep partnership with California State Parks, a unique self-sustaining public-private partnership model was developed for the benefit of Crystal Cove State Park. In 2025, Laura began working on a memoir documentary and founded the Coastal Legacy Foundation (CLF), which is dedicated to advancing education, historic preservation, ecological conservation, and coastal protection. The foundation supports projects that preserve California’s coastal heritage while inspiring future generations to become thoughtful stewards of our natural and cultural resources.
ABOUT THE EXHIBIT
Drawing from the Laura Davick Crystal Cove Historical Archive and Orange County Regional History Collections, Crystal Cove and the California Dream brings to life Crystal Cove’s past using historical photographs, records, and artifacts. This exhibit traces the area’s rich history, celebrating a place where California history, community, and the natural environment meet at the water’s edge.
Curated by Nicole Arnold, Stephen Anderson, Cheryl Baltes, Cynthia Johnson, and Jennifer Stout
Designed by Allan Helmick and Sylvia Irving
Exhibit will be on display in UC Irvine Libraries’ Langson Library November 2026 through March 2027 during regular library hours.
| 9000 BCE – 1769 | Tongva, Acjachemen, and other tribes inhabit the area that includes present-day Crystal Cove. |
| 1776 | Spanish missionaries found Mission San Juan Capistrano, which includes the area of Crystal Cove. |
| 1842 | Rancho Bolsa de San Joaquin, including present-day Crystal Cove, granted to José Andrés Sepúlveda as part of the larger Rancho San Joaquin Mexican land grant. |
| 1864 | José Andrés Sepúlveda sells the land to Benjamin and Thomas Flint, Llewellyn Bixby, and James Irvine for $18,000. James Irvine buys out his partners in 1876 and forms Irvine Ranch. In June 1864, President Abraham Lincoln signs the Yosemite Grant Act, which cedes Yosemite Valley and the Mariposa Grove to the State of California as the nation’s first state park. |
| 1894 | James Irvine II incorporates his holding into the Irvine Company. |
| Late 1910s | Hollywood film productions begin using the Cove as a stand-in for tropical locations. |
| 1924 | State of California finalizes an agreement with the Irvine Company on the route of Pacific Coast Highway, closing the gap between Newport Beach and Dana Point. |
| 1927 | Elizabeth Wood — wife of Merrill Wood, who helped build the first manager’s office to oversee camping and film production reservations — coins the name “Crystal Cove” due to the area’s clear blue ocean waters. |
| Late 1920s | Irvine Company leases coastal bluff land above Crystal Cove to Japanese farmers, who create a small farming community. |
| 1928 | State of California establishes Division of Parks, with 17 parks and 15 full-time employees. By 1935, the state-wide system includes 70 state parks and monuments. |
| 1938 | Irvine Company formalizes cottage leases at a rate of $50 per year. No new cottages are constructed after 1939, limiting the district to the 46 units built primarily in the 1920s and 1930s. |
| 1962 | Orange County Board of Supervisors outlaws tent camping on local beaches due to increased public health and safety concerns. |
| 1969 | Major oil spill occurs off the coast of Santa Barbara, at the time ranked the largest in US waters. As a result of national news coverage and public outcry, the Environmental Protection Agency is created by the Nixon Administration in 1970, and the California Environmental Quality Act is adopted into law. |
| 1972 | Californians rally around the Save Our Coast movement. Proposition 20 passes to protect coastal resources and public access and to establish the California Coastal Commission. |
| 1976 | State Legislature passes the California Coastal Act, which emphasizes the importance of public access to the coast while preserving sensitive marine habitats and biodiversity. |
| 1979 | Irvine Company sells nearly 1,900 acres, including Crystal Cove, to the State of California, initiating state efforts to evict lease-holding cottage residents. Crystal Cove is placed on the National Register of Historic Places later that year. |
| 1980 | Crystal Cove State Park is established. |
| 1982 | State Parks and Recreation Commission approves Crystal Cove State Park General Plan, which includes the adaptive reuse of Crystal Cove cottages for affordable public use. Because state funds for cottage improvements are not available, resident leases are extended for 20 years. |
| 1997 | State of California signs a 65-year contract with a private developer to convert the cottages into a luxury resort. |
| 2001 | California Coastal Conservancy provides $2 million to the State Parks to buy out the resort developer’s contract, and public works plans are initiated to develop the Crystal Cove Historic District. The last of the Crystal Cove residents move out in July. |
| 2004 | $8 million contract awarded for Crystal Cove rehabilitation, infrastructure upgrades, and cottage restoration. |
| 2006 | State of California awards a contract to the Crystal Cove Alliance (later renamed Crystal Cove Conservancy) to operate the Crystal Cove Historic District’s overnight rentals and food services. In June, the first overnight guests stay in restored cottages, and the Beachcomber restaurant opens, marking the return of public use to the Cove. |
| 2017 | California Coastal Commission approves permits for the restoration of the final 17 cottages, advancing the last phase of rehabilitation. |
Hollywood film production in the early part of the 20th century was a booming business, and parts of Southern California acted as movie sets representing different parts of the world. Within driving distance of Hollywood studios, Crystal Cove’s beach and bluffs were frequently used as tropical and island locations.
In the late 1910s, Hollywood production crews built thatched-roof huts and planted palm trees at Crystal Cove to use as scenery for island and tropical sets. The film business in the Cove grew so robust that James Irvine II hired E. Roy Davidson as a full-time, on-site manager. Davidson and his friend Merrill Wood set up an office (later designated cottage #0).
| 1920 | Silent-era film Treasure Island |
| 1932 | Dramatic film Rain set in the South Pacific |
| 1944 | World War II–era To Have and Have Not set in Martinique |
| 1951 | Noir film Two of a Kind set in Southern California |
| 1974 | Disney family-adventure sequel Herbie Rides Again set in San Francisco |
| 1985 | Romantic comedy Creator set in Southern California |
| 1988 | Dramatic comedy Beaches with scenes set in New England |
| 1992 | Military drama A Few Good Men with scenes set in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba |
