Site of Old Whaling Station

The bend is named for the men who worked it. Azorean whalers came here in the early 1860s, after the station on Deadman's Island closed, and took gray whales from open boats as the herds passed on their winter migration south. Blubber was rendered in try-pots on the beach. Captain Frank Anderson tried out 2,166 barrels of oil in three seasons from 1874 and then moved north. Scarce whales, fresh water, and firewood ended the work by the mid-1880s.

What the plaque says

On the slopes below and west of this plaque stood the quarters of Portuguese whalemen who put out through the surf in boats under oars and sail to harpoon passing gray whales to be towed ashore where the blubber was stripped and "tried out" in large black iron try-pots to produce valuable whale oil for lamps and lubricants. Active from 1860 to 1885, this station began its decline with the advent of fossil oil; however, three of the original structures, the try-pots and crumbling furnaces remained until about 1928. This site is registered as California Historical Landmark #381.

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Santa Monica Pier — 21 mi
  Where the Mother Road runs out of continent, and where the End of the Trail sign gives the drive somewhere to finish.

More markers nearby

• Site of Home of Diego Sepúlveda — 3.8 mi
• Casa de San Pedro — 4.1 mi
• Liberty Hill Site — 4.3 mi
• Site of Adobe Home of José Dolores Sepulveda — 4.3 mi