1890-1900 Stanton 1990

Jeffrey Stanton Santa Monica Pier: A History from 1875 to 1990, Donahue Publishing: Los Angeles, CA, 1990, 1909, 1905, 1900, 1899, 1898, 1897, 1896, 1895, 1894, 1892, 1889, 1887, 1879, 1878, 1887, 1875
Chapter 1: Santa Monica's North Beach (1875-1907)

[The useful synthetic diagram on page 9 indicates the placement of structures and piers south of Railroad St.: (7) Los Angeles and Independence Wharf (1875-1879), described above; (9) Eckert & Hopf Pavilion Restaurant (1879-1900); (10) Thompson Scenic Railroad (1887-1889), which connected the Arcadia Hotel across the railroad gorge to Ocean Av.; (11) Arcadia Bathhouse (1887-1905); (12) Arcadia Hotel (1887-1909); (13) Jackson Hotel (1889- ) across Ocean Av., from the Arcadia Hotel; (14) Southern Pacific Railroad Depot (1878- ); (15) Southern Pacific Railroad Tunnel (1892- )]

[Page 13 Undated photo cable-driven steam-powered Ferris Wheel.]

[Page 15 1898 photo taken from the North Beach Bathhouse looking south shows a tented merry-go-round operated by the Davis Family in the foreground, pony carts, the truncated Los Angeles and Independence railroad wharf with a sign advertising 500 New Bath Suits Fish 6th and Rooms, the Arcadia Bath House, and the Arcadia Hotel followed by high bluffs covered with trees, and three quarters of the way a windmill which may be atop a water tower, and then Kinney & Ryan's Ocean Park Pier, and the Palos Verdes Peninsula and fog behind that. The whole coast seems to be developed between the Arcadia and the Ocean Park Pier.]

     " . . . Southern Pacific . . . changed their mind. . . . the real reason [being] the success of Santa Fe's Redondo Beach wharf which opened in 1889. Except for coal and lumber, 60% of all seaborne shipping in and out of Los Angeles area was handled by that wharf. . . .

     "Southern Pacific acquired a fifty foot right-of-way along the beach along the bluffs from Senator Jones and Colonel Baker after threatening condemnation proceedings. They dug a tunnel through the palisades in March 1892 and extended their rail line to a point one half mile beyond Santa Monica Canyon. . . .

     "Santa Monica experienced its third business boom in its short history. It is estimated that Southern Pacific spent more than $200,000 in the town during construction of its wharf. The Arcadia Hotel which had been closed for more than a year reopened in July under new management. Its new owners, the Pacific Improvement Company, a subsidary of Southern Pacific spent $10,000 to remodel and expand the hotel. The hotel attracted so much business that cots had to be placed in some of the rooms instead of beds." p. 18

     " . . .

     "The Edison Company's installation of an electric power plant on the bluffs above the old railroad pier in 1894 gave the city the look of prosperity, especially at night. It was also the year that Senator Jones bought the town's bank from Vawter and renamed it the Santa Monica Bank.

     ". . . in 1892 [when] Abbot Kinney and his partner Francis Ryan bought a strip of the old Rancho La Ballona property south of Strand Street. The terrain in what was to become Ocean Park was different from most of Santa Monica. It was hilly rather than flat, and its beach was at the end of a gentle slope rather than at the bottom of steep cliffs.

     "It was Kinney and Ryan's intention to build a modest beach resort similar to Coney Island in New York. They persuaded the Santa Fe Railroad to extend its line from Ballona Creek up the coast, and donated the land for a depot at Hill St. in exchange for a promise that they would build a substantial pier and pavilion. A much larger tract was given to the Y.M.C.A. in hopes that construction of an auditorium and bathhouse would attract conventions and assemblies in Ocean Park. The remainder of the property was subdivided into small 25 x 100 foot, $45 lots that sold well. Unsold lots were rented for $15 per year with the understanding that "neat and substantial cottages" would be built on them.

     "Kinney and Ryan, who were both sports enthusiasts, built a golf course, race track, tennis club, and country clubhouse. The pier, which was completed by the railroad in 1895, was a mere stub and offered nothing to attract visitors. Several years later the partners replaced it with a 1250 foot long pier built over the town's sewer outfall.

     " . . . Sherman and Clark extended electric trolley service to the city [Santa Monica]. . . on April 1, 1896. Two thousand residents and a band greeted the passengers as they embarked . . . By summer Sherman and Clark had extended service south to Ocean Park.

     "In January 1898, a businessman named J.C. Elliot proposed to build a sixteen foot wide $25,000 pleasure wharf at the foot of Railroad Av. He even talked about building a small rock breakwater to make boating possible near the wharf . . . the city denied the franchise.

     "Two months later the Santa Monica Beach Improvement Company was organized with a capital stock of $100,000. It was a syndicate headed by F.A. Miller, proprietor of the Arcadia Hotel, Sherman and Clark of the Pasadena and Pacific Electric, and Robert Jones, president of the Santa Monica Bank. [Their plan to build a 1300 foot long pier at the foot of Railroad Av., but their plan was scotched by Southern Pacific which claimed an exclusive franchise.]

     "Instead they built a 700 foot long pleasure pier north, midway between the old railroad pier and the North Beach Bath House . . . [The project was only partially completed.] . . . 

     "Sherman and Clark's trolley lines eventually led to the Arcadia Hotel's closure in 1899. The hotel was a holding company for the Southern Pacific. When their railroad was the only road into Santa Monica, it was to their advantage to maintain a first class hotel. After the trolley lines came to Santa Monica, their interests turned elsewhere.

     "While North Beach was much more strait-laced than Ocean Park, each summer a few carnival ride operators set up their attractions on the beach near the pleasure pier. . . .

     "Santa Monica's citizens and city government were becoming more and more puritanical as the turn of the century neared. In 1900, the town voted 305 to 218 to ban saloons, but allowed restaurants and hotels to continue to serve alcholic beverages. That year Ocean Park citizens became paranoid and circulated petitions advocating secession from Santa Monica. An election was finally held in the fall, but separatist's efforts failed; 341-59."

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 Kelyn Roberts 2017