THE GOLDEN BEAR on Main Street and PCH in Huntington Beach as it appeared in the 1970s as premier venue (for folk and rock music acts (Orange County Archives).

Part Two of “Forgotten Wonders of West Orange County.”

“The Golden Bear” in Huntington Beach on Pacific Coast Highway at Main Street is probably holding on to its one-time fame longer than some of our others, but as people age, the glory that was “The Bear” may soon be lost.

Baby-boomers may recall that – in the 1960s and 1970s – it was Orange County’s premier venue for pop and rock music, including acts on the way up … and those on the way down.

The Bear began as the “Golden Lion” in 1923 as a Greek cafe, with the name being changed to avoid competition to a similarly named eatery. It started on Main and moved a short distance to PCH in 1929.

In 1963, the Golden Bear – which had been closed since 1957 – was reborn as a folk music club. It caught the wave of the times and booked Lovin’ Spoonful, Buffalo Springfield, Neil Young, Seals and Crofts, The Doors, Jackson Browne and later Patti Smith, Cheap Trick, The Ramones, Peter Gabriel and Garden Grove’s Steve Martin.

(If you don’t recognize many of those acts, you’re too young ….)

But the building didn’t meet earthquake safety standards  and was closed in 1986. However, as the downtown was redeveloped, it was reborn in a new building on the same location. “Pepper’s Golden Bear” had a short, embarrassing, six-month life.

The new “Bear” was directly adjacent to a new movie complex and the noise from each made them both unviable. All that remains is a plaque on a wall in the Pierside Pavilion recalling a time, and a “wonder” gone by.

Coming up: More “Forgotten Wonders” you may never have heard of.