Editing Laguna Beach, California (section)

=== 20th century ===
The scenic beauty of the isolated coastline and hills attracted [[plein-air]] painters in the early 1900s. [[William Wendt]], [[Frank Cuprien]], and [[Edgar Payne]] among others settled there and formed the Laguna Beach Art Association. The first art gallery opened in 1918 and later became the [[Laguna Beach Art Museum]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://lagunaartmuseum.org/about-us/|title=History|year=2013|work=About Us|publisher=Laguna Art Museum|access-date=October 8, 2013|archive-date=September 30, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130930135824/http://lagunaartmuseum.org/about-us/|url-status=dead}}</ref> Precursors to The Festival of Arts and the Pageant of the Masters began in 1921, and eventually were established in their present-day form by Roy Ropp in 1936.<ref>{{cite book|last=Vogel|first=Claire Marie|title=Laguna Beach|series=Images of America|chapter=4 Art, Festivals and Films| date=March 31, 2009|publisher=Arcadia Publishing|isbn=978-0-7385-6997-0|pages=77–86}}</ref> Due to its proximity to [[Hollywood, Los Angeles|Hollywood]], Laguna also became a favorite filming location. Starting in 1913, dozens of silent films were made at local coves with [[Harold Lloyd]], [[Mary Pickford]], [[Douglas Fairbanks Jr.]], and others. Actors and film crews stayed during long production shoots at the Arch Beach Tavern on the hillside above Moss Street.<ref>{{cite book|last=Sleeper |first=Jim|author-link=Jim Sleeper|title=Great movies shot in Orange County that will live forever (or at least until 1934)|year=1980|publisher=California Classics |location=Trabuco Canyon, CA}}</ref>

The arrival of painters, photographers, filmmakers, and writers established Laguna Beach as a noted artist community.<ref name="Neisser" /> Although there only were approximately 300 residents in 1920, a large proportion of them worked in creative fields.<ref name="249-250">{{cite book|last1=Talber|first1=Thomas B.|last2=MacAuthur|first2=Mildred Yorba|last3=Meadows|first3=Don C.|title=The Historical Volume and Reference Works: Orange County|year=1963|publisher=Historical Publishers|pages=249–50}}</ref> The small town remained isolated until 1926 because the long, winding Laguna Canyon road served as the only access.<ref name="249-250" /> With the completion of the [[California State Route 1|Pacific Coast Highway]] in 1926, a population boom was expected. To protect the small-town atmosphere of the art colony, residents who called themselves "Lagunatics" pushed for incorporation.<ref name="249-250" /> The municipal government for Laguna Beach incorporated as a city on June 29, 1927.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.lagunabeachcity.net/about/overview.htm|title=City of Laguna Beach. Overview|access-date=April 29, 2009|publisher=City of Laguna Beach|url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090416075759/http://www.lagunabeachcity.net/about/overview.htm|archive-date=April 16, 2009}}</ref> The city has experienced steady population growth since that time, rising from 1,900 residents in 1927 to more than 10,000 in 1962, and becoming four times larger in area.<ref name="249-250" />

Many creative, bohemian, and wealthy people have made Laguna Beach their home. They have added to the local culture by providing a theme for the small town. Adventurer [[Richard Halliburton]] built his [[Hangover House]] on the slopes of South Laguna. Hildegarde Hawthorne, granddaughter of the novelist [[Nathaniel Hawthorne]], described Laguna "as a child of that deathless search, particularly by persons who devote their lives to painting or writing, or for some place where beauty and cheapness and a trifle of remoteness hobnob together in a delightful companionship."<ref>Gerry Max, ''Horizon Chasers: The Lives and Adventures of Richard Halliburton and Paul Mooney'' (McFarland, 2007), p. 67 and 258n9 for references.</ref>

Laguna Beach was the Southern California epicenter of the 'alternative' [[hippie culture]] in the late 1960s and early 1970s.<ref name="Schou">{{cite book|last=Schou|first=Jonathan |title=Orange Sunshine: The Brotherhood of Eternal Love and Its Quest to Spread Peace, Love, and Acid to the World|date=March 16, 2010|publisher=St. Martin's Press|location=New York|pages=2–8}}</ref><ref>Liz Goldner. [https://www.kcet.org/shows/artbound/laguna-beach-in-the-1960s-and-1970s-photos "Laguna Beach in the Sixties: A Colony for the Arts,"], KCET Artbound, January 25, 2016.</ref> In early 1967, John Griggs and other founding members of  [[the Brotherhood of Eternal Love]] relocated from [[Modjeska Canyon]] to the Woodland Drive neighborhood of Laguna Beach, which they later renamed "Dodge City".<ref name="Schou" /> [[Timothy Leary]] lived in a beach house on Gaviota Drive.<ref>{{cite book|last=Schou |first=Jonathan|title=Orange Sunshine: The Brotherhood of Eternal Love and Its Quest to Spread Peace, Love, and Acid to the World|date=March 16, 2010|publisher=St. Martin's Press|location=New York|page=69}}</ref> The Utsava Rajneesh Meditation Center was located on Laguna Canyon Road and was the last remaining commune in the United States for followers of the spiritual teacher and guru Osho, Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh.<ref>{{cite web |last1=EMMONS |first1=STEVE |title=Rajneesh Meditation Center Giving Way to Children's Day-Care Facility |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1986-10-19-me-5989-story.html |website=[[Los Angeles Times]] |access-date=July 2, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120120061459/http://articles.latimes.com/1986-10-19/local/me-5989_1_meditation-center |archive-date=January 20, 2012 |url-status=live |date=October 19, 1986}}</ref> 

The city was deemed a smoke-free place by Laguna Beach Council on May 23, 2017. Ordinance 1624 was imposed by the Beach Council to prohibit smoking in all public places in the city.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://lagunabeachcity.net/resident/smoking.htm|title=City of Laguna Beach - Smoke-Free Public Places|website=lagunabeachcity.net|language=en|access-date=October 4, 2018|archive-date=October 4, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181004185753/http://lagunabeachcity.net/resident/smoking.htm|url-status=dead}}</ref>

Since the founding of Laguna Beach Art Association in 1913, the community has been considered an open-minded artist village. <ref name=":0">{{Cite book |last=Lewinnek |first=Elaine |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctv2j6xf5f |title=A People's Guide to Orange County |last2=Arellano |first2=Gustavo |last3=Vo Dang |first3=Thuy |date=2022 |publisher=University of California Press |isbn=978-0-520-29995-5 |edition=1 |volume=4}}</ref> The election of Robert F. Gentry in 1982 marked the first openly gay elected official in southern California and the first openly gay mayor in the state. <ref>{{Cite web |title=Robert Gentry Papers |url=https://oac.cdlib.org/findaid/ark:/13030/c8k64jv6/ |access-date=2025-05-15 |website=oac.cdlib.org}}</ref> The city has held a sizable LGBTQ population since the 20th century. The Boom Boom Room of the Coast Inn was a nightclub and disco that predominately catered to the gay community until it shut down in 2007. <ref name=":0" /><ref>{{Cite web |title=History |url=https://www.coastinnlagunabeach.com/history |access-date=2025-05-15 |website=Coast Inn |language=en-US}}</ref>