James W. Lunsford The Ocean and the Sunset, The Hills and the Clouds: Looking at Santa Monica, illustrated by Alice N. Lunsford, 1983, 1943, 1942, 1941, 1940, 1933, 1921, 1913, 1912, 1880
"15. Santa Monica High School, 601 Pico Boulevard. The cornerstone for the high school was laid on April 11, 1912, on what was once known as Prospect Hill; the campus has expanded over the years to its present size by incorporating the former Santa Monica College site.
"The high school contains a great many points of interest, especially the Memorial Open-Air Theater dedicated in 1921; Barnum Hall, dedicated to William F. Barnum, who served as principal from 1913 to 1943; a senior bench donated by the Classes of 1940 to 1943; an imposing Athletic Hall of Fame in the Men's Gymnasium; a trophy collection; the Freedom Shrine in the Administration Building; and the Hall of Fame in the History Building. Two special items of interest in Barnum Hall's lobby are a mosaic-tile mural depicting the landing of the vikings and a four-foot-tall concrete owl that stood atop the original high school from 1913 until 1933, when an earthquake caused its removal."
[KR: The mural and the theater curtain were created by Stanton MacDonald Wright.]
Santa Monica Pier-Arcadia Terrace
"The Santa Monica Pier is probably the city's best-known and most widely recognized landmark. Although now entirely owned by the city, it was originally two different and separately owned structures until the city purchased the adjoining privately owned and operated Newcomb Pier. The original Santa Monica Pier portion is the oldest and longest wood piling pier in California. Initially constructed around 1912, though some argue for 1880, it is 1,640 feet long, including the concrete bridge extension, the roadway, and the upper- and lower-deck fishing areas.*
"*Unfortunately, some portions of the Pier were severely damaged in the disastrous winter storms of 1983."
Ocean Park
"61. Murals, Early Ocean Park and Venice Scenes, Arthur Mortimer, 1982. A three-panel mural at the Kensington Road entry to Joslyn Park depicts a bath house and ocean front in 1906, the boardwalk between Venice and Ocean Park in 1912, and Pier Avenue in 1904."
"64. Copeland Court. A two-block subdivision with a center pedestrian walkway and no street running between Sixth and Seventh Streets, Copeland Courts was laid out by E.J. Vawter and F.M. Leavitt in 1912."
"69. Olsen House, 804 Navy Street. This bright yellow cottage just west of Lincoln Boulevard was once the home of Robert E. Olsen, inventor of the stoplight for automobiles in 1912, as well as of the "picture mill," a coin-operated camera in a booth similar to those used today in amusement centers."