Pasadena History: Beach Trips Cause Traffic Jams in 1918

Here is your weekly dose of some Pasadena history thanks to The Pasadena Peninsula by Isabel Shipley Cunningham:

Even in the early 1900s, beach-goers snarled traffic when returning home from their weekend getaways on Sunday evenings. A gas station located where Mountain Road branched from Baltimore-Annapolis Boulevard did a booming business with beach traffic.

“For those who came to the peninsula by car, Lipin’s Corner was the landmark where they left the main road to Annapolis and started down Mountain Road to the resorts they had been dreaming of all week,” Cunningham wrote.

“John Lipin opened a gas station there in 1918, advertising gasoline, tires, and accessories. His business grew to include the sale of food and drinks and motorists often stopped there for gasoline or refreshments.

“Later, Lipin’s Corner was the location of massive traffic jams on Sunday evenings when everyone tried to return home from the beach at the same time. While long lines of cars waited to enter Baltimore and Annapolis Boulevard, passengers (and sometimes even drivers) could go into the store and buy a cold drink while the cars in line would move only a few cars’ length.

On Sunday evening July 12, 1937 traffic stood still from Lipin’s Corner to Lake Shore and Fort Smallwood.”

Check back next Wednesday for more Pasadena history. For a complete listing of all Tidbits of History columns please click here.