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Venice History and Community Information
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Venice, CA, has as rich a history as it does a culture and is an amazing place to live in.
In the late 19th century, a man named Abbot Kinney, a wealthy tobacco mogul, world traveler and co-owner of the Ocean Park Casino and Resort, transformed a bare marshland West of Los Angeles into the beautiful City of Venice. This grand vision of Kinney's included a resort town that was similar to Venice, Italy - a vision of which included Venetian-styled canals, hotels, amusement attractions, and gondolas. Today, the spirit of Venice is still present in its strong and vibrant culture.
Because of his immense success in the casino business, Kinney and his partners bought all the land south of Ocean Park. Later on, Kinney won half of the land with the toss of a coin after the business partnership that was formed had been dissolved. Surprisingly, he decided to choose the marshy southern part of the land. With his family by his side, Kinney set out to accomplish his goal of building a Venice town similar to that of Italy's.
In 1904, Kinney sent his building superintendent to the East Coast to visit various seaside resorts. Kinney decided that the best way to build his town was to acquire a landscape architect and town planner from Boston that had tremendous experience. Kinney and his staff drew up preliminary plans in June to outline their plan for Venice, California. Contracts were signed to dig up the half mile long, seventy foot wide Grand Canal and build the 900 foot long, 30 foot wide amusement pier at Windward Avenue. Construction began shortly thereafter. He then hired architects to design all the town buildings in "Venetian Renaissance" style. Thus, the birth of Venice, CA had begun.
In September, The Los Angles Pacific Co. enabled inland LA residents to visit Venice by completing the first electric trolley line. By the year's end, construction of the Ship Cafe and Auditorium, located on the Abbot Kinney Pier, the Venice Canals, and the St. Mark's Hotel on Windward were well underway.
All was running smoothly until two disastrous winter storms in February and March of 1905 demolished his newly built pier. As a result, the grand opening date was pushed back from May until July. Over 1000 workers worked around the clock to rebuild the pier, auditorium and Pavilion in time for the July 4th weekend rescheduled opening.
On June 30, ocean water, streaming in through two huge pipes, began flowing at a rate of 500 gallons a second thus filling the canal's central lagoon. With the majority of the canals filled and the pier completed, Venice, California was ready to celebrate. On July 4th weekend, the festivities featured something for everyone. Yacht racing, swimming races in the lagoon, band concerts, fireworks at the lagoon's huge 2500 seat amphitheater were some of the many events that amazed and wowed the 20,000 spectators. Although many of the resort hotels and attractions were not finished, the existing accommodations were sufficient and the tourists were enchanted. Venice of America was a success.
With the canal network near completion and the adjacent residential lots sold, Venice began to grow at an enormous rate. The imported gondolas and the miniature railroad, which carted people in around the town, also arrived that summer. The town was booming and began attracting out-of-town sideshows and amusements.
Excitement and Venice were synonymous. Roller skating soon became popular and a skating rink was built accordingly. The rink, located on Trolly Way (Pacific Avenue) fielded a roller hockey team which challenged teams from other California cities. Kinney also built a huge dance hall on the pier which could accommodate 800 couples. The Ocean Park Pier, just 3/4 of a mile north of the Kinney Pier, also had it's share of attractions including a $150,000 heated indoor salt-water plunge.
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Fast foward to the 20th century and the spirit of Venice remains strong.
Venice experience a rebirth in the 70's but not as a major tourist destination. The focal point was on maintaining the character of Venice so as not to chase out the low income population. In 1972, the city constructed an 18 mile bicycle path adjacent to Ocean Front Walk which extends from Torrance to Santa Monica. The new visitors were local residents riding bikes through the depressed Venice, bringing it new life.
In 1976, with the invention of the polyurethane skate wheel, outdoor skating became the rage. Venice's wide Ocean Front Walk and bicycle path made it an ideal location for skating. Vendors began renting roller skates from outdoor lots along the ocean front and tourists flocked to the area to experience the new sport. With the crowds came street performers and sidewalk artists along with T-shirt and sun glass stands. The Los Angeles city mayor deemed Venice "the roller skating capital of the World." Venice had become a tourist attraction again.
In the late 70's and early 80's, Venice saw the likes of mural art. Buildings all around town were brilliantly livened up with scenes depicting landscapes, everyday life and tributes to Venice artists such as Jim Morrison of the legendary band, The Doors. With an onslaught of street artists, vendors, musicians, body builders, palm readers and live television coverage during the 1984 Summer Olympics, Venice began receiving visitors from around the world on a daily basis.
Venice history is still being written. Today Venice is keeping with its colorful tradition as being the number one seaside destination on the West Coast. Visit Venice and be a part of history.
More Information on Venice
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For more information about the cities of Venice, Santa Monica and Marina del Rey, visit our area pages.
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