Venice, California History

People go there for the views of the ocean, the body builders, and the eclectic street life. There's no more enjoyable bike ride in the USA than up and down the bike paths of Venice Beach. The sand is on one side, real entertainment on the other.

Whose bright idea was it to build canals through a swamp and call it Venice? According to the Venice Historical Society:

"If it hadn't been for Abbot Kinney's asthma, Venice may never have been founded." Apparently, Abbot Kinney of New Jersey, discovered and settled in California when a snowstorm prevented his return to the east coast. He began buying land near the ocean-including Santa Monica and Venice--in the early 1890s.

Kinney went through a succession of partners. A coin toss to divvy up the property holdings won Kinney the land that would become Venice-but it was marshy and barren then. "Kinney soon announced that his sand dunes and marshland would soon be a cultural city patterned after Venice, Italy. The public laughed and dubbed the plan "Kinney's Folly".

"They stopped laughing when trenches for canals were dug and Venetian-patterned buildings began to spring up. By July 4, 1905, Venice-of-America officially opened with a wonderful pier and exciting attractions: Italian gondoliers poling their boats down fairy-lit canals, a concert orchestra supplying music that could be heard nearly all over town, camel rides, exotic hotels catering to the best tastes and a miniature railroad circling the entire scene."

Thank you, Venice Historical Society.

Today, many of the canals (but not all!) have been filled in. That started in the late 1920s, when streets and parking were needed for automobiles-an innovation Abbot Kinney had not anticipated. Only canals south of Venice Blvd. survived the dumptrucks.

The winding Abbot Kinney Blvd houses some of Venice's best restaurants, but everyone should stop once at Abbot's Habit for coffee and art. You may recall the spot as the place where bees pestered Janeane Garofalo and Uma Thurman in The Truth about Cats and Dogs.

A whole list of movies, from the days of silent films through the 21st century, can be found at Jeffrey Stanton's wonderful website of Venice History.

The 1914 short Kid at the Auto Races (pictured) and later flims: Falling Down, Speed, American Gigolo, and many others used Venice extensively. As for TV, Baywatch, Gilmore girls, Pacific Blue, Simon and Simon, A-Team, Starsky & Hutch, and of course, the opening credits of Three's Company, were shot in Venice as well.

My favorite would be Million Dollar Baby, which used a Catholic church and the restaurant On the Waterfront. It's a great place to eat, literally on the waterfront at the north end of Venice. For my money, On the Waterfront is the best place to sit and enjoy a Dunkel while watching the sun go down.