In 1946, Pacific Beach was emerging from the war years as a rapidly growing community, and Garnet Avenue was becoming its commercial heart.
Among the businesses serving residents was Barrett’s Beauty Parlor at 1578 Garnet Ave.
The photograph is part of the Howard W. Rozelle Collection at the San Diego History Center. Rozelle photographed Pacific Beach extensively in the mid-1940s, including its small businesses, diners, gas stations and other commercial establishments. The History Center dates many of those photographs to 1946-1947, providing a valuable visual record of the neighborhood’s postwar commercial landscape.
Barrett’s was one of those everyday businesses that helped make Garnet Avenue a neighborhood shopping district.
City directories provide another glimpse of the business. The 1950 San Diego city directory lists R.T. Barrett at 1578 Garnet Ave., confirming the Barrett name at the same address a few years after Rozelle made his photograph.
The address was in the 1500 block of Garnet, part of the commercial corridor that served Pacific Beach residents.
That growth reflected a much larger transformation.
Pacific Beach had changed considerably during World War II as San Diego’s military population expanded. After the war, the community continued to grow, with new homes and businesses serving residents who were making Pacific Beach their home.
A beauty parlor might seem like a small part of that story, but businesses such as Barrett’s were an important part of neighborhood life. They provided everyday services close to home and helped make Garnet Avenue more than simply a road through Pacific Beach.
Rozelle’s photograph preserves a moment in that transition.
His work is particularly valuable because he did not photograph only major landmarks. The San Diego History Center says his ground photographs included auto parts stores, gas stations, bars, diners, grocery stores and other small businesses, with many of the Pacific Beach images dating to 1946 and 1947.
That makes Barrett’s Beauty Parlor worth remembering.
It was not a grand hotel or a famous Pacific Beach landmark. It was a neighborhood business on Garnet Avenue, serving customers as Pacific Beach entered its postwar period.
Today, the businesses along Garnet Avenue have changed many times. But photographs such as Rozelle’s remind us that the history of a neighborhood is not made only by its most famous buildings.
Sometimes, it is found in the storefronts where people went to shop, work, visit, and take care of the ordinary routines of everyday life.
Read more history stories here. Do you have a story to tell? Send an email to DebbieSklar@cox.net
Sources:
- San Diego History Center, Howard W. Rozelle Collection. Howard W. Rozelle Collection.
- San Diego History Center, Early San Diego Diners, Grills & Soda Fountains. Early San Diego Diners, Grills & Soda Fountains.
- City of San Diego, 1950 City Directory. City of San Diego City Directories.
- Another Side of History, “PB’s Main Street (Part 2).” PB’s Main Street (Part 2)
