About Us
Preserving the heritage and enhancing the beauty of the historic Dana Point Lantern Village
Our Mission
Our Community
Supporting our Mission
One of the goals of the City is to protect our citizens and their property from “conditions which are …detrimental to property values and community appearance…”
Our City has appreciated the collaboration of the Lantern Village over the years by recognizing us with the plaque at La Plaza Park.
The Lantern Village is located in the heart of Dana Point, California, with boundaries defined as the area between Chula Vista Avenue and Calle La Primavera and between the Dana Point Harbor Bluffs and Selva Road.
About Our Organization
Founded in 1991, the LVA is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization (Tax ID# 33-0488100). As a non-profit 501(c)(3) organization, donations to the Lantern Village Association are tax-exempt and the Lantern Village Association complies with all 501(c)(3) rules and regulations.
We are Lantern Village Association but also do business as Lantern Village Society.
Our History
The Lantern Village Association (LVA) was formed in 1991 by the owners and residents of the Lantern Village area because our part of the newly formed city (1989) was not a nice place to live. There were unsavory types of people conducting unsavory types of businesses on our public streets and the area was not clean. The LVA’s goal was to solve those problems, hence, our Mission Statement. To do so, the members hired a retired police officer to conduct code enforcement.
Since its inception, the LVA was an original sponsor of both picking up trash days and of designated days for large item recycling. Both events have since been taken over by other organizations. We have provided Meet the Candidates Nights for LVA members. Members have historically been treated to a Taco Fest at which the City brought us up to date on the latest developments in the City.
For several years the LVA sponsored the Pride Awards. This program annually recognized a residence and landscaping that were regularly maintained and contributed to the ambience of the Lantern Village.
We created a scholarship fund specifically for graduating students who live in the Lantern Village and plan to seek further training in tech schools and/or 2 or 4 yr colleges. To support our scholarship program, our Taco Fest grew into Taste of Lantern Village (TOLV) and moved to La Plaza Park so we had room to open the event to everyone, not just LVA members. Our annual TOLV now has music, dancing if you like and 15 or more local restaurants providing food samples.
Then and Now
Everybody living in the Lantern Village knows – or should know – about our connection to Hollywood. Sidney Woodruff, developer of Hollywoodland, wanted to have a resort at San Juan by the Sea but the Crash of 1929 and Great Depression brought his dream to an abrupt halt. You can see the arches from his hotel (never built) by the Drogher statue on the bluff. At the foot of the bluffs you can also see the doorway where the elevator would have let people out at the beach.
In 2008, there were 5,290 people per square mile living in the Lantern Village. Surprise, surprise – it’s even more congested today. According to the 2023 census, there are 6,374 people per square mile in the Lantern Village. So no, it’s not your imagination, it’s crowded here!
We used to have two streets designated State Highway 1 in the Lantern Village, Pacific Coast Highway and Del Prado. No more! When PCH and Del Prado were returned to two-way streets, Del Prado was decommissioned as State Highway 1. PCH still is, of course. Selva Road (2.07 miles) is still the longest street in Lantern Village, slightly beating out Stonehill at 2.05 miles. Lighthouse Drive is still the shortest street at 0.01 miles. The longest original Lantern street is Golden Lantern at 1.11 miles, and the shortest is…Old Golden Lantern at 0.10 miles. Really…you can measure them.
In 2008, people living in the Lantern Village were younger than in the rest of Dana Point. On average, men and women living in the Lantern Village were two years younger than in the rest of the city.? The average age of Lantern Villagers was 37.5 (males) and 38.8 (females). Well, we’ve all matured a bit. The average age of Lantern Villagers is 45.9 (males) and 49.6 (females). That’s two years older for males and 1½ years older for females in the rest of Dana Point.
Lantern Villagers were also well educated. There were slightly more people with graduate degrees living in the Lantern Village than in the rest of Dana Point. (To be fair, the rate of BA- holders is on par with all other Dana Pointers.) This still holds true: 7.9% of Lantern Villagers are in undergraduate courses in college, as opposed to 4.7% in Dana Point. 6.6% of Lantern Villagers are in graduate or professional schools, while in Dana Point that number is 2.7%.