Rows of tents for a Chautauqua at Arbamar in Huntington Beach, Calif. with a car parked in the distance. Arbamar, meaning "the Grove by the Sea," was named for the sheltering eucalyptus trees. The campground extended from 11th to 13th Street, between Orange and Acacia streets, and closed after the 1920 oil boom. (Photo, Santa Monica Public Library Image Archives)
A century ago, veterans from the Civil War were joined by veterans from World War I for the first time at Arbamar, the tent city in Huntington Beach. It was the thirty-second annual encampment of the Southern California Veterans Association and they expected a crowd of around 2,500.
The Santa Ana Register reported the two-week encampment at the end of July through early August was "the time for the assembling of the defenders of the Union flag of '61" and noted "with the ranks of the Grand Army of the Republic being depleted year by year at a rapid rate, many who were there last year will not be with their comrades this year."
The annual encampment would be "enhanced this year by the presence of many young veterans of the war with Germany". The first Armistice Day in the United States was held on November 11, 1919, marking the first anniversary of the end of World War I and the armistice signed between the allies of World War I and Germany at Compiègne, France.
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