Tag Archives: Beaches
North Santa Monica Beach, shortly after the Southern Pacific railroad reached the town, 1880s
This is what the northern end of Santa Monica beach looked like in the 1880s, shortly after the Southern Pacific railroad reached the town. It looks like a long, broad wooden platform was built on the sand, with—by the looks … Continue reading
Electric sidewalk car in Venice, Los Angeles, circa 1920
Well, this looks like fun. Apparently at Venice Beach, somebody offered rides on an “electric sidewalk car” up and down the boardwalk. That beachfront walk is always so crowded these days that something like that would be more of a … Continue reading
Venice Beach, California, 1906
It’s hard to find a photograph of Venice Beach that’s earlier than this one. Venice, California, was founded by tobacco millionaire Abbot Kinney in 1905 as a beach resort town designed to give Angelenos desperate to escape the crowding of … Continue reading
Roosevelt Highway (now the PCH) and pedestrian bridge at Thelma Todd’s Sidewalk Cafe, 1935
Thelma Todd was a popular actress in the late 20s to mid 30s. In 1934, she opened a place in the Pacific Palisades called Thelma Todd’s Sidewalk Café at 17575 Pacific Coast Hwy (then called Roosevelt Hwy) just north of … Continue reading
“At the 1936 opening of the Roosevelt Highway (later renamed Pacific Coast Highway)”…maybe
This photo was captioned “At the 1936 opening of the Roosevelt Highway (later renamed Pacific Coast Highway)” which I’m not sure is right. The stretch of Highway 1 that was dubbed Roosevelt Highway was dedicated in 1929. Those girls are … Continue reading
A Venice (California) canal in 1905 – the same year the project was completed.
Considering how congested Venice Beach is these days, it’s hard to imagine it ever looked like this. This shot of a Venice canal was taken the same year that Abbot Kinney’s Venice canals project opened – 1905. How peaceful and … Continue reading
Downtown train service to Santa Monica, 1892
This marvelous photo shows the arrival of a train from downtown L.A. into Santa Monica in 1892 (on what would have been the Los Angeles-Santa Monica Railroad, which later merged along with other lines to become the Los Angeles Pacific … Continue reading
Ocean Ave, Santa Monica beach, circa 1950
Don’t we all wish Ocean Ave along Santa Monica beach still looked like it does in this circa 1950 photo? In the 20 years I’ve lived here, I’ve never been there when it hasn’t been thronging with people…which is great … Continue reading
Camel riding in Venice, California, 1906
When Abbott Kinney conceived the “Venice of California” his vision came complete with canals, gondolas, amusement piers, hotels and Venetian-styled structures. I’m not sure how camel rides fit in, but those three people astride that camel seem to be enjoying … Continue reading
The bar at Irving Thalberg’s beach house, Santa Monica, circa 1930
Here we can see the bar at Irving Thalberg’s beach house in Santa Monica beach, circa 1930. From what we can see, it looks delightfully art deco, but my first thought was “It’s rather small, considering whose bar it is.” … Continue reading