In 1905, a tobacco heir opened what he called “Venice of America” but came to be known as “Coney Island of the Pacific,” which we now refer to as Venice. The development never quite reached the lofty plans that Abbott Kinney had for it, but Venice was a sight to behold when it was new. This photograph was taken outside Saint Mark’s Hotel on Windward Ave, circa 1906, a year after Venice of America opened. Some of those arches are still there, but not that wonderful detail we can see above that elderly gentleman with the snowy beard.