Long Beach
AA-2026-025639
On the image
The RMS Queen Mary, a ship once celebrated for transatlantic crossings, now serves as a hotel and tourist attraction in Long Beach, California. This grand vessel, originally built for speed and luxury on the open ocean, was permanently anchored with the intention of offering a different kind of experience.
Its enormous smokestacks, once essential for propulsion, now stand as decorative landmarks, carefully framing the visible "Hyatt Hotel Queen Mary" sign. Apparently, the most practical way to preserve a historic ship is to ensure it never actually sails again.
People in the 1970s could visit this monument to a bygone era of travel, arriving by car to experience ocean liner luxury without the bother of a voyage. It represents an efficient method of appreciating history: static, accessible, and conveniently located next to a parking lot.
The historian's note
The RMS Queen Mary was a British ocean liner that sailed the North Atlantic Ocean from 1936 to 1967. Constructed by John Brown & Company in Clydebank, Scotland, she was the flagship of the Cunard White Star Line.
After her retirement from service in 1967, she was purchased by the City of Long Beach, California, and permanently docked there. Extensive renovations transformed the ship into a hotel, museum, and convention center, which opened to the public in 1971.
This photograph from the 1970s captures the Queen Mary in her new role, illustrating the repurposing of a significant historical vessel into a commercial and cultural landmark, marking the end of the grand ocean liner era and the beginning of its second life as a static attraction.
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RMS Queen Mary as Hotel, Long Beach, 1970s. 1970–1979. Archive & Atlas, Historical Image Library, AA-2026-025639. https://thearchive.archiveandatlas.com/library/rms-queen-mary-as-hotel-long-beach-1970s.
@misc{aaAA2026025639,
title = {RMS Queen Mary as Hotel, Long Beach, 1970s},
year = {1970–1979},
howpublished = {Archive \& Atlas, Historical Image Library},
note = {Accession AA-2026-025639},
url = {https://thearchive.archiveandatlas.com/library/rms-queen-mary-as-hotel-long-beach-1970s}
}TY - ART TI - RMS Queen Mary as Hotel, Long Beach, 1970s PY - 1970–1979 PB - Archive & Atlas, Historical Image Library AN - AA-2026-025639 UR - https://thearchive.archiveandatlas.com/library/rms-queen-mary-as-hotel-long-beach-1970s ER -
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