A bicyclist on a pathway on the Venice boardwalk in California
A cyclist in Venice California Venice Beach California Venice of America was founded by tobacco millionaire Abbot Kinney in 1905 as a beach resort town 14 miles 23 km west of Los Angeles He and his partner Francis Ryan had bought two miles 3 km of oceanfront property south of Santa Monica in 1891 They built a resort town called Ocean Park on the north end of the property which was soon annexed to Santa Monica After Ryan died Kinney and his new partners continued building south of Navy Street in the unincorporated territory After the partnership dissolved in 1904 Kinney built on the marshy land on the south end of the property His intent was to create a seaside resort like its namesake in Italy When Venice of America opened on July 4 1905 Kinney had dug several miles of canals to drain the marshes for his residential area built a 1200 foot long pleasure pier with an auditorium ship restaurant and dance hall constructed a hot salt water plunge and built a block long arcaded business street with Venetian architecture Tourists mostly arriving on the Red Cars of the Pacific Electric Railway from Los Angeles and Santa Monica then rode Venice s miniature railroad and gondolas to tour the town But the biggest attraction was Venice s mile long gently sloping beach Cottages and housekeeping tents were available for rent The town grew in population annexed adjacent housing tracts and changed its official name from Ocean Park to Venice in 1911 The population 3119 residents in 1910 soon exceeded 10 000 and drew 50 000 to 150 000 tourists on weekends Attractions on the Kinney Pier became more amusement oriented by 1910 when a Venice Scenic Railway Aquarium Virginia Reel Whip Racing Derby and other rides and game booths were added Since the business district was allotted only three one block long streets and the City Hall was more than a mile away other competing business districts developed Unfortunately this created a fractious
Size: 3413px × 5120px
Location: California
Photo credit: © travelstock.ca / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: angeles, beach, bicycle, bike, biker, california, day, front, los, path, pathway, riding, sculpture, southern, sunny, venice
