California Incline in Santa Monica circa 1910s

Posted on June 5, 2015 by

California Incline in Santa Monica circa 1910sThis is how the California Incline in Santa Monica looked circa 1910s. There’s only one automobile in sight! (Mind you, in back then, how many cars would there have been in all of Santa Monica?) And look at how short those brand-new palm trees are! At the time this photo was taken, the California Incline was called “Sunset Trail” which was how the locals got from Ocean Ave down to (what we now call Pacific Coast Highway) to get to Santa Monica beach to take in the sunset.

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One response to “California Incline in Santa Monica circa 1910s”

  1. Al Donnelly says:
    December 5, 2016 at 11:04 pm

    Don’t be fooled the the singular conveyance. By this time all of Southern California was awash in the new horseless contraption craze. There were numerous dealers and even some plants for assembling autos. Homer Laughlin, now retired from the china making business he started in Ohio, had joined with a few other like-minded leading enthusiasts to found the beginnings of the Automobile Club. In the distance, we can see the crude roadway running alongside the Pacific Electric Railway’s power poles. It has likely already reached as far north as the old Long Wharf, which is now stub ended and used for a fishing pier. In the days of the Southern Pacific steam lines, rails ran onto the wharf and there would be no way for a road to cross them. But with PE gradually pulling back, the road will soon reach the site of Inceville’s studio ranch (see that entry) and beyond. The way is already being paved for a time when pioneer surfers would amble up and down the coast seeking new curls far away from the crowded beaches at Santa Monica. Think the passengers in this car could envision what was just around that rock?

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