In this colorized (probably hand-tinted) postcard, we’re afforded a glimpse of how Abbot Kinney originally envisaged his “Venice of America” development. We’re looking northwest across the lagoon and that canal in the background was known as Coral Canal, which was later filled and renamed Main Street. I know there were a number of practical reasons why Venice, California couldn’t hold onto its charming network of canals, but if this image is anything to go by, I sure wish we could have found a way to keep them.
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The main reason the original canals were paved over was faulty engineering. Designed to have the tides replace the water twice daily failed to materialize and stinking cesspools resulted. That and the discovery of oil turned the area from charming residential to gritty industrial. Sad but true.
Thanks for that, Matt. I hadn’t heard that before so what happened to the canals now makes a lot of sense.
Sounds like they didn’t dredge deep enough. So sad. It TRULY could have been the “Venice of The West” if they had. Imagine stepping out of your house, firing up the steam/or diesel engine of your dory and cruising through the canals with some neighbors/friends to the 1910 equivalent of the Figtree Café in Venice or somesuch.
Think you’re right about the dredging. Never went to the Figtree Café, but back in the day Venice favorites were the LaFayette Café (Jim Morrison’s hangout) and 72 Market Street; both long gone. If you’ve never been, might want to check out the Sidewalk Cafe. Unparalleled people watching on the large outdoor patio & the menu’s a much expanded contemporary on Figtree’s.
The map makes it clear that it was not as isolated a project as many would claim. The key to it all was the traffic feed from the Los Angeles Pacific (LAPRR) lines cutting between the lagoon and the beachfront zone. Notice the map indicates “nearest beach point to Los Angeles…”, certainly made possible only by the transport services that would soon be captured in the rising Pacific Electric Railway (as the Western District lines). Kinney knew who the real masters of future development were while the automobile was still a rich man’s toy contraption. But even that power would soon come under threat. Ultimately, his dream was in the way of that of the influential members of the auto club with their own agenda. (Even Homer Laughlin was an early advocate.) There’s no place for angels in the city of lights, where rivers run with dark waters like film noir.