Tag Archives: Santa Monica
A streetcar line build to the side of Ocean Ave, Santa Monica, California, 1927
Pretty much every vintage photo I’ve seen of a streetcar line shows it traveling down the center of the road. But this photo of Ocean Avenue, Santa Monica in 1927 shows us a different, and perhaps more sensible way of … Continue reading
Pacific Palisades Lighthouse with restaurant and bathhouse on the Roosevelt Highway (later Pacific Coast Highway), circa 1930
Yesterday’s photo of Carl’s Sea Air Lodge didn’t show the lighthouse that stood across the Roosevelt Highway (later Pacific Coast Highway.) Built in 1927, the Pacific Palisades Lighthouse had a working light but, unlike most lighthouses, it also had a … Continue reading
Carl’s “Sea Air” Lodge Motor Apartments, Pacific Coast Highway, north of Santa Monica, California, circa early 1950s
This shot of Carl’s “Sea Air” Lodge on the Pacific Coast Highway roughly a mile north of Santa Monica is very 1950s – the eye-catching tower soaring above a one-story motel, those circa early 1950s cars parked out front, that … Continue reading
Roosevelt Highway (later Pacific Coast Highway), Santa Monica beach, California, 1938
California State Route 1 runs along pretty much the whole California coast but takes on different names at different stages. In Los Angeles, it’s known as the Pacific Coast Highway, but back when this photo was taken in 1938, it … Continue reading
Café Nat Goodwin at the foot of Hollister Ave in the Ocean Park, Santa Monica, California, 1917
If you were looking for a good time in Los Angeles in the mid 1910s, you’d do well by driving to the Ocean Park section of Santa Monica. At the end of Hollister Ave you’d find Bristol Pier, which was … Continue reading
The North Beach Bath House salt water plunge, Santa Monica beach, California, July 1901
Back around the turn of the century, going to the beach meant more than throwing your towel down onto the sand and cracking open a paperback. You also had the option of going to a public bath house. This photo … Continue reading
Hotel Arcadia, the first upscale hotel on Santa Monica beach, circa late 1800s
California’s plentiful sun and fresh sea air has long been a draw for ailing and half-frozen Easterners. So finally landing on California soil must have been a relief—especially if this is where they dug in their toes. This is the … Continue reading
Police about to be repelled by water canons from the SS Rex gambling boat off the Santa Monica coast in 1939
The SS Rex was a gambling ship that sat off the Santa Monica coast during the late 1930s. At the time, gambling was illegal in California but technically, the Rex was operating within the law because it sat more than three … Continue reading
Birdseye view of cities near Los Angeles, circa early 1910s
In this illustration of Southern California, we can see how truly separated the various towns were in the early 1910s. Waaaaay off in the distance we can see (what we now refer to as) downtown Los Angeles, with great expanses … Continue reading
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Tagged Color photo, Downtown Los Angeles, Maps, Santa Monica, Venice Beach
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