In 1931, an oil tycoon named Edward L. Doheny donated 41 acres of his oceanfront property to the State of California. That gift created California’s first official state beach, and almost a century later, visitors are still spreading towels on the same sand. The America250 initiative is a good moment to celebrate the public-beach idea itself, an idea this stretch of coast helped invent. At Doho Café, a proud part of the Adventures Unbound family, we operate the only café in the area that sits directly on the sand at Doheny.

The History

Doheny State Beach sits along the coast in Orange County, California, and holds the distinction of being California’s first official state beach, established in 1931. The land for the park was originally donated by oil businessman Edward L. Doheny, whose family helped create the public beach area. The park began with about 41 acres of donated land and later expanded with additional parcels acquired from railroad and oil companies.

During the 1930s, the Civilian Conservation Corps built early facilities at the park, including campgrounds, picnic areas, and support structures that helped establish Doheny’s recreational infrastructure. Some of those CCC-era bones are still visible today in the layout of the campground loops and the placement of the original picnic shelters. Beach concessions and food stands have served visitors at the park for decades, and the modern Doho Café opened in 2022, replacing earlier snack-bar-style concessions and offering a more contemporary beachfront dining experience.

Doheny himself was a pivotal figure in the Southern California oil boom. After drilling the first successful oil well in the Los Angeles City Oil Field in 1892, he acquired vast landholdings up and down the coast. His 1931 donation of the beach property to California, made during the depths of the Great Depression, was an act of civic philanthropy that opened a remarkable stretch of coastline to the public at exactly the moment it was needed most.

The Connection

Doheny State Beach and the surrounding Dana Point area are ancestral lands of the Acjachemen Nation, known historically as the Juaneño Band of Mission Indians, who have inhabited this coast for over 10,000 years. The mouth of San Juan Creek, right next to Doheny, was a critical place for fishing, hunting, and gathering long before any oil well or state park existed. The Acjachemen continue to work today to protect their sacred sites and cultural heritage throughout Orange County.

When you sit on the patio at Doho Café, you are taking in a view that goes back tens of thousands of years and a beach access policy that goes back to 1931. Coffee at sunrise, surf check at noon, fish tacos at sunset. Same sand. Same horizon. Same idea: that the coast belongs to everyone.

For more America250 stories from across our properties, visit Adventures Unbound’s America250 page.