Back in 1905, when this photo was taken, going for a Sunday drive (or any day of the week) along the California coast on Route 1 aka Roosevelt Highway aka Pacific Coast Highway aka PCH was not for the faint of heart. This was a stretch north of Santa Monica. One lane, unpaved. I don’t know what you would have done if you had encountered a vehicle coming the other way around that bend. Not that there would have been much chance of that happening in 1905, but still. Reversing along this roughly hewn path can’t have been much fun.
Route 1 aka Roosevelt Highway aka Pacific Coast Highway along the coast north of Santa Monica in 1905
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In 1905 land north of Santa Monica, ultimately about 17,000 acres worth, was owned by Frederick & May Rindge. As private property owners the Rindge’s fought public acess. First with the Southern Pacific Railroad, which intended to connect their Santa Barbara station with Santa Monica along the coast. The Rindge’s won that fight by building a 15 mile private railroad, the Hueneme, Malibu & Port Los Angeles Railway!
Frederick died in 1905 & May continued the fight, ultimately she lost both her county roads battle & her effort against Roosevelt Highway with four California Supreme Court cases & two United States Supreme Court cases. (Rindge Co. v. County of Los Angeles, 262 U.S. 700 (1923)
Needless to say, such litigation was very expensive & May essentially bankrupted the estate by the time of her death in 1941. If it weren’t for May Rindge, known as the Queen of Malibu, this section of the coastline would look much more industrial today –
Wow, Matt, what a fascinating history lesson. Thanks for sharing it with us.
Knew May Rindge was tenacious, didn’t know it was the longest court battle in California history! No wonder she all but bankrupted the estate.
https://www.kcrw.com/news/shows/greater-la/pch-2021-year-review/whats-in-a-street-name-how-pch-almost-skipped-malibu?utm_id=44928&sfmc_id=1788736
Line in the distance is probably Long Wharf, so this could be along the Palisades but might even be as far up as the point at Malibu. The rock face looks about right, and the softer hillside may have been reduced to beach level later when the colony went in. Rindge’s fight was to block access across her land…not so sure she prevented a road up to the estate in the coastal zone.