It was a century ago that San Pedro’s Dalmatian-American (then the Jugoslav-American) Club was founded by immigrants from the Dalmatian coast who were drawn to the little seaside town.
San Pedro offered lucrative fishing, work in the canneries — and a picturesque reminder of home, with its hillside homes overlooking the harbor.
Los Angeles City Councilmember Tim McOsker speaks during the State of the District at the Dalmatian American Club in San Pedro on Thursday, Oct. 9, 2025. (Photo by Drew A. Kelley, Press-Telegram/SCNG)
A 1935 photo of the ball celebrating the opening of the Dalmatian American Club at the building. (2006 Daily Breeze staff file photo by Steve McCrank)
A picture at the hall of the Dalmatian American Club building in San Pedro, circa 1935. (2006 Daily Breeze staff file photo by Steve McCrank)
Katherine Kordich reigned as queen of the three-day festival celebrating the opening of the Dalmatian American Club held in September 1935. San Pedro News Pilot, Sept. 12, 1935, Page A2. (Credit: San Pedro News Pilot archival database)
The crew at the Dalmatian-American Club are ready to cheer on Croatia in the World Cup in San Pedro on Friday, July 13, 2018. Cheering on Croatia Sunday against France in the World Cup final will be, from left, club president Rudy Svorinich Jr., Bill Brownell, Renee Orefice, Tony Pielin, Juan Lumbars, Chuey Navarro and Gojko Spraija. The club will open their doors for a viewing party on Sunday morning. (Photo by Scott Varley, Staff Photographer)
A portrait of Martin Bogdanovich, founder of San Pedro’s Dalmatian American Club, hangs inside the the club. (2006 Daily Breeze staff file photo by Steve McCrank)
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Los Angeles City Councilmember Tim McOsker speaks during the State of the District at the Dalmatian American Club in San Pedro on Thursday, Oct. 9, 2025. (Photo by Drew A. Kelley, Press-Telegram/SCNG)
The club will celebrate its 100th anniversary on Saturday, May 2, with a sold-out crowd of more than 400 getting to enjoy a multi-course meal and native Croatian entertainment. Dignitaries from the homeland will be there, and a new book, “Icon of San Pedro,” will also be unveiled — along with a few promised surprises.
“According to some historical documents we discovered,” said former Los Angeles Councilmember Rudy Svorinich Jr., president of the club, “the founders never thought we’d be longer than 50 years in existence.”
It was in May 1926 when 25 Croatian immigrant men from the Dalmatian coast put down the roots of the club.
And while times — and the club’s name — have changed over the years, those roots have never been forgotten.
The club changed its name in 1949 to the “Yugoslav-American Club of San Pedro” to reflect a second generation of members and for a third time, in 1992, to the “Dalmatian-American Club of San Pedro” to honor the new Republic of Croatia and the club’s founding fathers.
For many years — and the tradition continues with some changes — the club’s Friday community swordfish lunches were legendary and the place to be (and be seen) for community and business leaders, political representatives and aspirating office holders running for office.
The “Community Fish Luncheon” began in January 1961 and drew 18 business initially. Each committed to bring a guest to the next lunch and the event exploded over the years, bringing packed crowds into the clubhouse.
Historic photo of Dalmatian Hall in San Pedro. (Photo Courtesy of Dalmatian-American Club)
It was built during the Great Depression, from 1926 to 34, with club members raising the money. It opened with a three-day celebration in 1935 and features a grand ballroom with a stage and balcony, an upstairs dining room, bar, full kitchen, lobby, offices and a basement. In U.S. dollars, the cost of construction in 1935 was $100,000, valued at more than $2 million today, according to information provided by the club.
The two-story, 22,000 square-foot art deco-style clubhouse, 1639 S. Palos Verdes St., is still a popular community gathering spot where officeholders often deliver their annual speeches.
In the past month, the club completed a $200,000 renovation of the interior and exterior — which now includes a second one-story, 10,000-square-foot patio room added in 1961 — in anticipation of the centennial celebration.
Martin J. Bogdanovich, an early pioneer and innovator in the U.S. tuna fishing and canning industry and president of Star-Kist Foods, was chair of that building committee and served as president of the club from 1934 to ’44.
The club has more than 300 members today and hosts annual events that draw many from the community, from Easter and Mother’s Day to Christmas brunches to the ever popular lunches (twice a month on Tuesdays and a members’ dinner on the second Friday of every month).
The club has survived some lean times, including during the COVID-19 pandemic when gatherings at the club were shuttered.
“One thing we were afraid of as a club,” Svorinich said in a phone interview, “is that we were going to be replaced by social media, by smartphones, all of the things we’ve seen in last 25 years and showing up now that people have been exposed — the impersonal relationships and social isolation (brought about by the pandemic years).
“But people want to be social again,” he added. “They want to interact with other people.”
Another event that has caught on more recently is the club’s outdoor summer classic rock music series, which features local bands and runs from May to October.
For the past 50 years, the club has also sponsored scholarships for members’ children and grandchildren.
During the war that created Croatia’s independence in the mid-1990s, club members and their families raised tens of thousands of dollars in humanitarian relief supplies and shipped them to Croatia in support of the country’s struggle for independence, said Svorinich, who was the Harbor Area’s Los Angeles council member in those years. His office coordinated shipments of four surplus L.A. ambulances and three fire trucks during the war.
The relationship between the club and the Republic of Croatia since 1992 has seen many of the homeland’s dignitaries visit the port town (with several of them also slated to attend this weekend’s club anniversary dinner celebration).
The club has hosted numerous Croatian Cabinet ministers and government officials, is frequently visited by Croatian Ambassador Pjer Simunovic and Consul General Renee Pea. It also hosted a dinner reception for Croatian President Ivo Josipovic in September 2010; celebrated Croatian Parliament Day in June 2016, sponsored by then Consul General (presently Croatian Ambassador to Sweden) Sinisa Grgic; hosted a dinner reception for Foreign Minister Gordan Grlic-Radman in September 2023; and hosted a dinner for Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic in September 2024.
The prime minister presented the club and Svorinich with a “Zahvalnicu” (formal recognition of gratitude) from the Croatian government for the club’s efforts during the Homeland War and for the club’s contribution to promoting Croatian ethnic pride in California over the past decades.
Now plans are underway in the club for the upcoming 2028 Summer Olympics, where a Croatia House will be established near the Cabrillo Marina and Doubletree Hotel in San Pedro.
While visiting Zagreb, Croatia, Los Angeles Councilmember Tim McOsker and Zlatko Matesa, president of the National Olympic Committee of Croatia, signed off the agreement for the Croatia House, representing a formal commitment between the two parties to celebrate Croatian culture and community spirit in the L.A. port community.
Olympic Houses serve as hospitality and cultural venues set up by participating countries in host cities during the Games, offering gathering places for national teams, fans and local residents to celebrate and experience each nation’s culture. The sites may also include live event broadcasts, athlete meet-and-greets and traditional food, among other activities.
San Pedro is home to one of the largest Croatian diasporas outside of Croatia, with more than 30,000 residents of Croatian descent, according to McOsker’s office.
To commemorate the anniversary, the club has commissioned a half-ounce silver bullion coin depicting two historic photos: the front of the coin features a historic image of the club building, and the back of the coin portrays a historic fishing boat celebrating the club’s roots and that of the San Pedro community.
The coin is available for purchase on the club’s website at dalmatianamericanclub.com.