Since 1979, the job of chronicling Pacific Beach history has been in the capable hands of John Fry, the author of three local books and an airplane postcard collector, who also has a monthly historical newsletter.

Pacific Beach Historical Society’s founder, the archivist has admitted to having a historical “hankering” from early on.

“I grew up in Normal Heights and, next to my favorite hobby shop, was a real estate office with a historic photo of a streetcar on Adams Avenue in its window, courtesy of Title Insurance and Trust,” said Fry. “I spent the summer of 1965, before my senior year at San Diego State, working with the photo collection at Title Insurance under Jane and Larry Booth. That collection is now the photo archives of the San Diego History Center in Balboa Park.”

Fry moved to Mission Beach in 1967 and Pacific Beach three years later. In 1972, he joined the Pacific Beach Town Council, eventually serving on its board of directors. That move ultimately led to the creation of the Pacific Beach Historical Society.

“At one of the directors’ meetings Howard Rozelle showed up, hoping the council would purchase over 7,000 photos he’d taken of the beach over the years,” said Fry. “The council didn’t have the funds, and Howard’s photos eventually found a home in Balboa Park. Howard and I (despite the 30-year age difference) hit it off immediately and founded the Pacific Beach Historical Society in 1979.”

PBHS’ first meetings were held at the old library on Felspar, then for some years in the banquet room at China Inn, and finally in the Community Room of the Earl & Birdie Taylor/Pacific Beach Library. “The meetings were monthly and well-attended, with guest speakers and slide presentations featuring Howard’s photos,” noted Fry. “Over the years the membership aged and eventually the society stopped holding regular meetings. The ‘society’ is now just me.”

Fry pointed out that his monthly newsletter, available for a $30 annual membership fee covering costs, continues to be published with stories and photos about the beach town’s past. “It features articles about beach history,” said Fry adding his newsletter underscores the society’s mission to “let people know about the history of Pacific Beach.”

Fry added his collection of community photos and memorabilia, unavailable to the public, is in safe keeping in a file cabinet in his home office.

“Newsletter topics often look back 50 or 100 years,” pointed out Fry noting the current issue celebrates the 100th birthday of Pacific Beach Middle School, “or at least the fact that a school has been on the corner of Diamond and Ingraham since 1923,” he said.

Fry has also written three local history books over the years. “I self-published ‘A Short History of Crystal Pier’ in 1990 in anticipation of the pier’s 75th birthday,” he said adding, ‘Images of America: Pacific Beach,’ tells the history of the beach in photos. ‘Pacific Beach Through Time’ shows color photos of Pacific Beach that I took in the ’70s and ’80s, matched with photos taken in the mid-2000s.”

Fry is also the publisher of American military airplane postcards, which are sold in the gift shops of most United States air museums. They are also collected by aviation enthusiasts worldwide. He has also written an illustrated operational history of the USS Saratoga (CV-3), the first American ship launched as an aircraft carrier.

“The airplane postcards came about when I recalled the cards that I bought in my youth that, like baseball cards, came in a pack with gum,” he said adding, “For a while, I supplied the gift shops of many of the nation’s air museums.”

Fry’s skills as an archivist even extend to his high school. A 1962 graduate of San Diego’s Will C. Crawford High School, Fry continues to maintain contact with his classmates publishing a quarterly newsletter for Crawford Alumni.

Copies of Fry’s history book are available at Crystal Pier. Readers can also contact him for copies at mail@johnfry.com.