Betty Lou Young and Randy Young Santa Monica Canyon: A Walk Through History Casa Vieja Press: Pacific Palisades, CA, 1997, 182 pp., 1896
"Peep shows" and "projected images" were first shown in Los Angeles in 1896 at Tally's open-front "Parlor" on Spring Street" BLY, 1997
"The Outlook [1896] . . . observed that other [port] sites-Redondo, San Pedro, and Long Beach-[couldn't preserve both] port facilities and resort accomodations . . . Santa Monica placed its new YWCA on the south side of town, as far from the canyon as possible.
" . . .
"Meanwhile, the fate of Port Los Angeles was to be decided by the Senate, with Senators Frye and Jones both on the Commerce Committee. Jones moderated the tone of his support when eastern newspapers noted that properties adjacent to the wharf were owned by Senator Jones and Arcadia Bandini de Baker and by Frank Davis, who represented Collis Huntington. In the final debate in June 1896, Senator Stephen M. White of California proved more persuasive . . . and the victory went to San Pedro. . ."
5. Turn of the Century
"The boom years of the late 1880s and the port fever of the 1890s brought weekend excursionists and a steady surge of development to Santa Monica, but the crowds largely passed the canyon by. When the new electric rail line from Los Angeles went into service in 1896, visitors flocked to the coast for a variety of social and sports events or a day at the new North Beach Bath House.
"Santa Monica, with its popular taverns and restaurants, had developed a reputation as the favorite resort of the sporting element of Los Angeles and as the watering hole at the end of the carline for the Sawtelle Soldiers' Home "old boys." Outdoor sports were popular as well. Crowds came to the beach for surf bathing, ocean fishing, swimming, bicycle races, baseball and other organized games, while tennis tournaments and polo matches drew highbrow patronage from all over the state.