Neptunian Woman's Club of Manhattan Beach.. Spring Fashion Show

This article is about the history of the Neptunian Woman's Club of Manhattan Beach and our Clubhouse located at 920 Highland in Manhattan Beach. For years I would walk by the building and had no idea what the Neptunian Woman's club was. Like others in our city, I speculated about whether it had anything to do with burials at sea. Three years ago I was invited to a meeting and have been a member ever since. This is an amazing group of women who quietly raise money for scholarships for students and fund many worthwhile philanthropy projects throughout the South Bay. Each year at Christmas the group runs the gift wrap in the Manhattan Mall with proceeds going toward scholarships for Manhattan Beach students. The Neptunian Club started the tradition of Fireworks on the Fourth of July. Our Spring Fashion show is the last fundraiser before the end of the school year.




It's impossible to talk about the history of Manhattan Beach without including the history of the Neptunian Woman's Club of Manhattan Beach. Rumor has it that if The Ladies of Manhattan Beach, as they were called by the local population, hadn't strongly whispered in their husbands ears it would have taken much longer for the city to incorporate. As it was Manhattan Beach was far behind their sister cities of Redondo and Hermosa in establishing a city. The Neptunian Woman's Club of Manhattan Beach was formed in 1909 by 10 local women. At that time the population was about 600 and there was not much in the way of social life. The women got together to promote a library , a social group to improve life in Manhattan Beach and to get the city incorporated. It wasn't until September 1912 that the city received it's charter from the State of California. Nor was it a coincidence that the new city council members were the husbands of many of the Neptunian Club members.

Real Estate has always been a major part of life in Manhattan Beach and one of the first things the ladies did was to initiate a project to name the beach cottages as this would present a nice appearance as well as be a convenience for tradesmen and guests.The Ladies' next project was to begin planting the ice plant that covers much of the beach along The Strand. The reason was that Manhattan Beach was mainly sand dunes and when the wind blew.. so did the sand.. everywhere. The original clubhouse was located in the Cleaver Building at Manhattan Beach Blvd and 12th Street which was close to the Pacific RR tracks which were located at about where The Strand is today. Unfortunately the ladies only rented that building. Eventually the ladies used the Council Chambers of the new City Hall built in 1916 at Highland and 15th. With only 20 members they didn't need more space.

By 1917 Manhattan Beach had grown and the ladies decided they needed a club house of their own. In October of 1917 they club purchased a lot at 10th and Highland at a tax sale for $239 with another $300 needed to clear the title. So for slightly more then $500 the ladies bought a prime piece of Manhattan Beach real estate. With the advent of World War I the clubhouse was not started until 1924. The contract to build the new clubhouse was $5,500. The contractor was the husband of one of the club members so the final cost was $5,000. The Ladies had about $1300 in their building fun and had to take out a loan to pay for the balance of construction. Dues were raised to 50 cents to pay off the loan.









Over the next 25 years the population of Manhattan Beach continued to grow as did the membership of the Neptunian Woman's Club. The purpose of the club was to improve the quality of life for the citizens of Manhattan Beach. The Ladies started the first library and the first school at Pacific and Manhattan Beach Blvd.The ladies organized both Boy Scout and Girl Scout troops. They raised funds to feed needy residents during the Depression. They helped fund Red Cross Blood Drives and volunteered to help with returning veterans from WWI, WWII, Korea, Vietnam. Today the club continues to send packages for our soldiers overseas. The ladies also started the July 4th Fireworks at the Pier. The club was very involved with the politics of the city and it is still said that you can't get elected to office unless you have participated in a forum at the Neptunian Woman's Club.


By the late 1940's the club had over 200 active members and it was time to enlarge the clubhouse. The club purchased the lot directly south of the existing building for $2,500 and called in the architects. The original club house was going to have a new addition. The cost would be $20,000. By 1953 the work was completed and that is the clubhouse you see today.










In May 2006 a mural was added to the clubhouse to incorporate the Neptunian Theme. The north part of the building is the original clubhouse. The side door goes into the old clubhouse entry. There is still the upper level room with holes where movies were shown.



Art and scholarship along with philanthropy have always been a priority of the club. Today the ladies continue to fund scholarships for students in Manhattan Beach and give donations to a number of charitable groups. The clubhouse has been used for many functions through the years and continues to be one of the oldest buildings in Manhattan Beach