Exploring the Remains of Fort MacArthur 

In the month of February, for an anniversary, the fort recreates the events of a supposed UFO attack that happened in 1942. Its popularly know as the Battle of Los Angeles. Basically the event is very festive with people dressing up in 1942 attire, showing off some of the WW2 items and war equipment, and even shooting blanks from the vintage weapons. I would like to see Beth and Drew make a video about it.

Arthur MacArthur had died in 1912, and was a Medal of Honor awardee for actions in the Civil War. His son, Douglas MacArthur, the famed general of WW2, also won the Medal of Honor, Many more places honor the younger MacArthur, including MacArthur Boulevard in Orange County.

Cool video as usual. As a local, I thank you for saying San Pedro correctly.

These military structures are always very interesting. The engineering involved as well as their function and place in history. Very cool museum.

My old playground as a teen. Before there was a museum, it was band practice rooms (mid to late 1980's). The area has its spirits as well…most often manifestations of sounds, odors, and on rare occasion, sightings. I am glad it is preserved as a museum and activity center. Once a year in early June there is a Soundpedro sound/art event near and around Angels Gate Cultural Center….outside and inside some of the places near the Marine Center. The hillside area was very important to the Tongva since it overlooked the ocean and Catalina Island was in plain view. The Catalina tribe was referred to as the Pimugnans…..Catalina was called Pimu. Great video documentary…thank you.

My childhood playground. The bunkers start from under the Korean Bell use to go all the way to where the golf course is now. So many movies were filmed there. From The Rock to Surf Nazis must die. Thx for bringing back childhood memories

I had suggested that the Odyssey crew visit Fort MacArthur, and am delighted with their new adventure. A couple of goofs- the guns were not fired with "black powder". It was nitrocellulose powder, in short sticks the diameter of a pencil. Also the battleship "Yamamoto"? Oops, the "Yamato". There is so much cool stuff not shown, including the ingenious data transmission system from the plotting rooms to the guns, and the generator electrical room with the restored engine/generator. Thanks for producing this.

This is a very well educating video Beth and Drew. I was in Anahiem, CA 27 years ago with my wife on our honeymoon. I never knew that this place existed and what it was used for until today. Thank You for this Awesome tour!!

Thanks to all USA veterans 👍🏿😷👍🏻🇨🇦🇵🇭🇺🇲

Very interesting tour! A little known extension of Ft. MacArthur was the Manhattan Beach Military Reservation and Battery Eubanks. Almost immediately following the attack on Pearl Harbor, two 8" guns mounted on rail cars were ordered moved from the East coast to Manhattan Beach where a railroad stub was built to allow for the transport of these guns to an optimal position near what is now 18th Street and Valley Drive. These guns were capable of firing a 500-pound projectile 20-miles. The rail cars were housed in two faux farm houses that had roll-away walls facing the West.

My aunt son god rest his soul 💙 was in the us army force he past away in 2017 great video and a place to visit one day shout out to drew and bethany ❤️💚🤘

Great episode!!! It brings back memories of exploring the base back in the late 80's when a friend lived in San Pedro. I remember as well hearing stories about underground tunnels under parts of San Pedro that personnel could use to get to and from the base. Keep up the great work Bethany and Drew.

I can still hear TAPS playing nightly at 9PM from my living room.

Another great place to see a mostly preserved battery is Fort Stevens State Park in Warrenton Oregon. One of the issues they faced was the shock wave from firing the large guns could break windows on homes and businesses close by. At one time they were all up and down both coasts. One of the best preserved ones was at Bolsa Chica but developers destroyed it just before it was deemed a historical landmark. No guns were ever installed there due to it's late completion but the battery itself was built into the side of a hill and was sheltered from the elements which preserved it.

I lived in the Los Angeles/San Diego area for 6.5 years. Passed the fort so many times-impossible to count, but I also have seen it in many movies and TV shows.

My father was stationed there! I look forward to the live.

In the 90's, I was doing camera on a movie that used Fort McArthur as a location (The Rock). We got to wander some of the tunnels here. They had very narrow tunnels connecting some of the larger rooms the idea being if an explosion happened in one room, the very narrow tunnels connecting it to another large room would prevent the blast from causing an explosion in another large room (I think these were the rooms where they stored the powder). At this time, the Los Angeles School district was using the rooms to store extra desks and equipment. The connecting tunnels were very narrow. Great video! Have fun! no1ukn0

Extremely interesting historical site. Thanks, Bethany and Drew, for bringing us this informative visit to Fort MacArthur, and thanks to Alan for the guided tour.

Like many unused military installations, this is a fascinating place! Here is a humble correction: The largest Japanese ship was the Yamato, not Yamamoto! I made that mistake myself many times in the past until I paid attention to the spelling!

Great to see you in Pedro folks... wow...that was my back yard growing up till we moved to Simi ...moms folks lived on 26th place and Averiill...dads folks 22nd st and Cabrillo...we were 40th and bluff rd just up from the park....my maternal grandma was a seamstress at Ft Mac during WW2...Grandpa worked as a port security officer for the port warden .....paternal grandpa as a civilian master electrician /ship repairs across the harbor at the Naval base I recall my grandparents on 26th PL above the gun saying when they test fired the guns they were alerted to open the windows to keep a window from breaking ....a few times in the mid 60s we snuck past the fence and security brought us back home to some angry parents. my mom worked the snack bar at old cabrillo beach building/ bath houses when she was 15...won miss firecracker /4th of july in 52 ..said she was 18...she was 16...my gramps found out when her pic was on the front page of the old News Pilot paper the next evening

As a kid we ran wild in the miles of tunnels around the fort , still there but accessible.

I spent 3 weeks there waiting to ets out of the Army with my left arm in a cast that I would have for two more years before it healed completely and I had the steel plates removed at the Carson VA hospital. Funny thing was they let me go home on weekends and I had nothing to do, just hang around until my paperwork went through.

Very cool! As you say, the disappearing guns were quite an engineering marvel. I've seen them at Battery Cooper in Fort Pickens Florida and Battery Chamberlin at Baker Beach in the Bay Area.

Our Cal National Guard unit was based here from 1963-69. Some of those Nike-Hercules missles were nuclear tipped!

My dad was stationed there in the late 50's and early 60's. The Nike Hercules missiles were actually armed with nuclear warheads so they could take out entire formations of Soviet bombers! My dad said they would target civilian airlines for fire control practice. He stayed in Pedro after the Army and bought a house on West 30th street, which bordered the base. This was the ultimate playground for us kids in the late 70's and early 80's when the base was just deserted and wasn't being used for anything else (except for movie and TV show shooting.) My brother and I and our friends had complete run of the place in those few years, exploring everything including the bunkers and tunnels. There was no security to speak of.

I give you two props. You always seem to find interesting locations!

I'm 59 years old and I remember going there with my friends back in the early 1980s to explore it was a cool place the tunnels and rooms were a little spooky back then. Gonna go back the first chance I get to see what's changed. Great place to see also check out the friendship bell and great views of the ocean.

Great video as always. I've always wanted to check this place out so its great to finally see it. At Point Loma in San Diego they had some similar defenses, but since its still an active base you can't really get a look at anything aside from a few bunkers at the National Monument.

There's also White Point too with its batteries and Nike silos that are sealed up. All of them had the same design so that if parts were needed across the West Coast they could be interchanged.

Fascinating visit--you showed us aspects of the Fort, not seen in other programmes. I hope y'all will be able to attend a Battle of El Ay re-enactment, as described in the post below. That would be amazing! Cheers, m'dears! 👏👏👏🙌🙌🙌🥳🥳🥳

re: 11:43 Known as 5 bit Baudot Code......It was machine read or sent but I don't remember how to visually decode it. It was used as 'Storage' or 'Memory' for Teletype machines as late as the 1970's.

I was stationed and lived there for 2 years. I had no idea of the history.

Thank you My Friends (that I haven't met yet)! I have enjoyed all of your films but Ya'll did an especially great job on this one! Ya'll have made Great material in the past but sometimes when it came to old military facilities it was kinda like 'we found some junk here'... I do understand the terrible remains of old facilities. I never served at Any military facility on the West Coast, but I'm certain that people who did are still alive. This was a Very Respectfully done film about this facility, especially before Veterans day. I know that the Charleston, SC Navy base is now closed and probably anything there is debris... But I do remember fondly sailing out of that base and having to stand at attention on deck until after we sailed past Ft Sumter. I guess what I'm saying is that these old facilities need to be remembered like your guide said. They were built as a deterrent. The serviceman who chose to protect America and ALL Americans (even the ones who hated those in Uniform), chose to defend freedom and the right to free choice. Even if that choice was to hate those who protected freedom for them. Remembrances of the Cold War... Ya'll Take Care and I love your work and videos! John PS, I believe that all of your work has been done Respectfully. I just meant some of the military related content is left a little vague due to a lack of historical information around it, it happens with most of the channels videos. Ya'll Take Care.!

Great episode. Love your varied locations. Something for everybody. I assume you know about Battery Bunker less than a mile away with even larger 16 inch guns that are buried in a man made Hill. At the base of the hill is LA-43 another Nike missile site. All of battery bunker has insanely beautiful views. Across the street is Royal Palms state beach with a rich history. 8 miles down the coast is Long Point military reservation with Battery Barnes 6 inch guns and another Nike launch site. The barracks are now Rancho Palos Verdes city hall. You could spend another day in the area and film 2 or 3 more episodes. Lastly are you familiar with Vanderlips? It’s the old home of the family that developed Palos Verdes. Fascinating place and history. Again love all of your efforts. Take care!

You guys do an amazing job with these videos! Your narrative and video is awesome!

You better have stopped by Busy Bee Market for a sandwich while in town (San Pedro). Happy to see you showcase a gem that's in my backyard.

G ! I went to MacArthur in the 60s for NCO Academy! I was in the Active Army and finished in the Army Reserves. 😊 I remember the WW2 Barracks I also had at Ft Bragg and Ft Belvoir.

I believe that an addition to the museum would be an old Federal Signal SD-10 that was used as an air raid siren in the 50s-80s before being shut down for good in 1985.

I used to live about 6 blocks from that fort McArthur, and since my favorite fishing spot was down the cliff from point Fermin, I used to stop almost every time and visit again. Most of those black gates weren’t there and people used to have access to more places including the command room that, for what I can see in the video, now it has a lock. Also, it would’ve been nice if the had shown the communication system inside which consisted of a bunch of 5 inch (more or less) pipes that ran along the walls from one point/room to another. For example, the commanding room on top of the hill, which people used to have access to, there was about 4 or 5 pipes so the commanding officer could communicate with the batteries and another rooms. And btw, when you used to get inside the commanding room, there was and opening at eye level in which you could see the ocean but whoever was looking in your direction, it was almost impossible to spot you, to know that there was somebody looking at you. You guys did an excellent video that brought back a lot of good memories to me. THANK YOU.

Wonderful video of this location. I've read about it but it was extra delight to get the inside tour of part of the facility. Much appreciated and look forward to the next adventure...

At the end of WW2, when my father was in the Army Reserves, dad was stationed at Fort MacArthur. He retired from the military during the Kennedy Administration. Off of hwy 1, there was a tourist stop called Marineland of the Pacific. Getting to it, on the right, you would see the Nike missile batteries pointing toward the ocean. Dad told me about the “disappearing guns”, and seeing them being fired.

Fort Worden on the Olympic Peninsula in Washington is also an extensive area well worth visiting. It’s very similar

Awesome again thanks 👍😀

That radio room gets Very Warm when all the equipment is turned on. There is a also a generator room which they sometimes fire up. Its too bad the magazines and access tunnels to the gun platforms are not open. PS - there were additional guns down near the Korean Bell. You can still see the traverse gears in the ground. There is also a sighting platform right off Gaffey to the East of the gun platforms. The observation "nest" is still there.

Great tour, lived here for eons but I've never toured the installation there. Also nearby is the former Army base now known as Angels Gate Park. Perhaps the two are related.

Great video guys. You do need to do a video in February there about the 1942 LA air raid. It’s a great event. Hope you got the see the tunnel from the plotting room to the gun battery and battery 241 under the Korean friendship bell.

My girlfriend and myself got locked in one of these tunnels. We kept yelling. This one man let us out. Your very lucky. I told him. I know how to hot wire these vehicles.

Awesome video!! You guys are making some amazing content! It was so cool seeing you in my own backyard. I can't believe you didn’t include the K9 cemetery at Fort MacArthur. During its time as a Nike site, they Air Force used guard dogs as part of the base security. When they decommissioned the Nike site, it was believed the dogs were far too aggressive to be redeployed as military working dogs elsewhere. They were euthanized and interred in their own cemetery. The K9 cemetery is 100 feet to the right of the entrance gate at Leavenworth Dr and Osgood Farley Rd that leads to the museum. The cemetery is surrounded by a brick and wrought iron fence, grassy, and each K9 has their own marker plaque. There are approx. 15-20 dogs buried there. I recently read they discovered (and are having markers placed) graves of two other dogs that were family pets of one or more base commanders. If you are back in the area, go check it out. The museum did an incredible job researching it, identifying what dog was buried where and building a fitting tribute to their service. It is touching to see.

Would be cool to see you guys turn on YT memberships. The quality of your vids is top notch.

Coastal Defence was a major part of the US Army till after WW2. When it was deemed obsolete. Many forts were repurposed for the Air Defense command to protect against Soviet bombers carrying nuclear weapons

Arthur MacArthur for whom the fort was named was the father of Douglas MacArthur.

A great video, as always! Love the longer runtime as well!

Another brilliant OO Adventure!

Great tour guys! As a geek, former Marine comms tech and military history buff, I'd love to go inside that communications room 😁😁😁

Amazing history. The tour was great. We have many similar batteries in the Puget Sound area. Fort Casey, Fort Ebey, Fort Worden, and several others. Unfortunately many of our forts are subject to vandalism.

This was great and the tour was super informative/interesting as well. I don’t live far from here but never knew about this place. There is a similar place overlooking the Golden Gate Bridge with spots for three disappearing guns. Two were removed but they left one to see and touch. It’s a really fun thing to explore with amazing views of the bay and the bridge.

Cool!

Awesome

Cool

Osgood battery was also where Madonna filmed her Like a Prayer video.

This was an awesome video!!! Especially the Nike Ajax!!! Thank you so much!!!

Outstanding!

That was awesome

One of your best! Thanks.

Incredible stuff. Mahalo for the tour!

Hi Guys! Super interesting! The sound quality you produce is excellent. What system are you using for your sound?

Really enjoyed this video! Such a cool place! Thanks for sharing.

Yet another great video done in a wonderful format, love you guys and love this channel

Very good presentation!!! Thank You for sharing.

Oh this one was super interesting. I grew up in Glendora and never knew this existed. I also loved the doc. you did on the Nike Missile sites, something that was in our backyards, yet few of us knew about them.

Another great tour. And git a guide. Very nice

Great video! History in plain sight.

Very interesting and informative! Keep on going! 👏👍

Great history tour. Always spot-on videos.

Great video, very interesting.

Very cool video

you two do great work. excellent research is really appreciated.keep up the good work

Either you haven't done anything for a while, or the RU-vid algorithm hasn' been feeding me what I want. Good to see something from you folks again. Would love to see what you find when you get to some other states. I might even be able to make some suggestions.

This was great. Something which I knew nothing about before. Keep up the good work.

Hello folks I'm new here but I got into watching your shows by accident but I am glad I did they are great I love learning about all kinds of history thank you for all your work and have a safe and happy new year

5:17 Honda Acty Japanese truck.

Who else remembers the Huell Howser episode about forth McArthur

Another great video. Thank you from the United Kingdom

Years ago I met a "Cosmoliner" in Yuma.

This was a really great one B&D! Next time I am in LA I will pay a visit, CHEERS!

Ohhhhh I think I remember this place from the 911's show episode!

Didn’t Ghost Adventures investigate Fort MacArthur? I believe I remember the place

In the mid 90's I was hiking through the Hunnington Beach wetlands, and I came across a couple of gun emplacement foundations. I assumed they were put there after WW 2 broke out to help protect the oilfields.

My wedding reception was at Ft. MacArthur.

G`morning O.O.

That was fantastic, like the other comment I would like to see you come back for the reenactment 😎

😊

I was literally there yesterday and thinking wow someone should do a documentary on this place! LOL

intersting

Just wondering if you have bell pavilion “mushroom house” in La Jolla ca on list? Would love to see you guys check it out

Bring it!!!!….lol

Used in a lot of t.v shows.

They filmed part of 1987 s Dragnet there for the P.A.G.A.N. Fest 🤣

Hey it’s me miles

They are called disappearing rifles.