Inside Pacific Town Club, The Outdoor Social Club for People of Color

In 1950's Los Angeles, the Pacific Town Club existed as an all-Black men’s social and athletic haven. In the years since, for reasons that have never been documented, the club was disbanded, leaving behind little evidence of its heyday aside from a few photos of successful fishing trips. In 2021, after learning of the history, LA-based creative Siddiq Cornish set out to reimagine and restore a cherished institution

Cornish had been searching for a framework to create a space where Black and Brown communities could participate in outdoor activities. He had considered trying to partner with private clubs to plan events, but didn’t feel comfortable attaching himself to any existing organizations. When he learned about Pacific Town Club, and realized he lived about a mile away from where it was previously based, he decided he didn’t have to create something from scratch.

Cornish’s Pacific Town Club revival focuses on providing Black and brown people the opportunity to participate in sports that aren’t traditionally associated with people of color. Fishing is its cornerstone—the club hosts Hooky, a friendly fishing excursion, each month between May and October, but members also get the opportunity to snowboard, bike, and race go-karts.

Cornish’s vision for the club is rooted in his upbringing in Philadelphia. He grew up watching the X-Games and admiring his dad riding dirt bikes, but football was his first love. He started playing in second grade and eventually earned a scholarship to Colgate University in central New York state, where he played wide receiver for three years. During a year off from football, he chose to take a skiing class as part of a mandatory outdoor education requirement.

“College wasn’t diverse, and neither was that skiing class,” Cornish recalls. “I always imagined what it would be like to do this with my friends back home or more people who looked like me. That thought stuck with me and eventually led to what Pacific Town Club is.”

While mainstream sports like football, basketball, and baseball were always within reach, Cornish is now building access points to the ones that piqued his curiosity, bringing his community along with him. These sports, Cornish says, have always had Black, brown, and Indigenous participants. “Activities like fishing weren’t just for vacations—they were a way of life,” he said.

Unlike traditional social clubs that often come with hefty fees and unwritten status requirements, Pacific Town Club is intentionally accessible. There is no membership cost; just the price of each activity ensures everyone is welcome to join.

We caught up with Cornish to discuss the origins of Pacific Town Club, why fishing remains central to the experience, and what it means to create space for communities of color in underrepresented outdoor and action sports.

This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.

Where were you in your journey when you decided to start the Pacific Town Club?

It was during the pandemic. I was thinking about all these private clubs that suddenly couldn’t serve their members anymore. That made me wonder what if they had outdoor or sports extensions? As I sat with the idea, I realized I didn’t want to attach myself to one of those institutions. I wanted to create something new. A club fully centered on sports, not just as an offshoot of something else, but as its own standalone space.

How did you learn about the original Pacific Town Club?

I already had this loose idea of starting a sports club, something rooted in experiences like skiing with my college classmates, golf with my brother-in-law, or tennis with my sister. But in all those spaces, we were often the only Black people. I kept imagining what it would be like if more of us were out there too.

Then one day, I was in Lafayette Square, a historically Black neighborhood in LA, looking at a house. It reminded me of Paul Williams, the Black architect who designed homes for many Hollywood elite. I looked up the address and found this early-2000s style .edu site saying the house belonged to a dentist, and it was in fact designed by Paul Williams. The dentist and Williams were both part of something called the Pacific Town Club.

That name stuck with me. I started Googling and found out that it was a Black social and athletic club. They had photos of members fishing in lakes around LA County. I live near Jefferson Park now, and the original club was at Adams and Montclair. It felt like a sign.

Why is fishing such a major part of the Pacific Town Club?

Fishing was one of my earliest core memories. When I was five or six, my dad woke me up in the middle of the night and said, “We’re going fishing.” We went to Wildwood on the Jersey Shore, me, my dad, my cousin, my uncle, a bunch of guys from the local sneaker shop. That day stuck with me.

Years later, I found a photo from the fishing trip that captured what I was trying to build a space where young Black professionals could connect. Especially now, when it feels like the world is getting more hostile toward people who aren’t white or male, we need these spaces. Fishing was the spark. I went on a trip to Costa Rica with friends the first time I’d fished since I was a kid. It lit something up in me. I tried to organize a fishing trip for my 30th birthday, and when that didn’t pan out, I pulled together the first Pacific Town Club trip a month later. We had 25 people on a boat. For a lot of them, it was their first time on the water. That’s when it became real.

Since then, Pacific Town Club has taken over 400 people fishing. We’ve done trips in New York and even fly-fished in Big Sky, Montana. We’re planning a fishing tournament soon. But we’re not just about fishing. We do snowboarding, cycling, even go-kart racing, which is our entry into motorsports. And we tell stories along the way. That’s just as important. How is the typical outing structured?

We also try to make the experience seamless as possible by including food, music, gear. I don’t want people stressing about logistics. Trying something new is hard enough as it is. Education is huge for us, not just cultural storytelling, but also how to actually do the sport. I’m not trying to have people teaching themselves how to snowboard at the top of a mountain. When we did our winter camp at Mammoth, we brought in instructors. Same with our Big Bear trip we had lessons for both skiing and snowboarding. We want everyone to be safe, prepared, and have a good time.

It’s the same with fishing equipment. On our trips, we have captains available to teach people how to set lines, how to handle the equipment, and provide context about what they’re catching. A lot of folks avoid snow sports because they don’t have the right gear. That’s why when it makes sense we partner with leading outdoor brands like Arc'teryx and Oakley to provide gear like sunglasses, snowboards, bike rentals, clothing and more. We know that having the right gear is important to having a great experience so that’s something we try to emphasize.

How do people become members of the Pacific Town Club?

It’s open to anyone. If you connect with the lifestyle we represent, then you’re already a member. It’s not about exclusivity. It’s about creating access and building community through shared experiences.

We’ve had members from ages 8 to 80. This isn’t just for adults or people who look a certain way. We’re not trying to scale fast, we're trying to serve people deeply and consistently. Whenever we can make things free through partnerships, we do. But even when there’s a cost, I always make sure people get more than what they pay for. That’s core to our values.

Style seems to be a big part of Pacific Town Club, can you tell me a little bit about how you think about it?

Style is a big element to what we do. Whether it was dope boys wearing Sergio Tachinni back in the day or folks wearing Arc’teryx jackets now, we’ve made sports gear hot time and time again. As fly as it looks on the streets, it looks even better when we’re making it do what it was made for. We like to have a good time and look good while we do it. It’s honestly half the fun.

We’ve given out prizes for best fit, and all of the gear we sell on our PTC website is meant to be worn while doing the sport like our quick dry hats, shorts, sun blocking fishing shirts. We want to make pieces people reach for whenever they’re going outside whether they’re fishing, hiking, playing tennis or anything else. It’s not just about looking good. It's about feeling like you belong in the space, because we always have.