Water and Power Associates Informing the Public about Critical Water and Energy Issues facing Los Angeles and California

Historical Notes

Through the 1920s, many public beaches were open to whites only. For the African American community, there was a 200-sq ft. area of beach at the foot of Pico Blvd that was marked with a sign that said “Negroes Only.” This stretch of beach became known as the Ink Well. African Americans continued to congregate at the Ink Well long after racial restrictions on beach access were lifted in 1927. It continued to be a popular African American gathering spot into the 1960s.*^*^

Historical Notes

The Breakers Beach Club, founded in 1926, was converted into the Grand Hotel in 1934 and eventually into an apartment complex. The Edgewater Beach Club, founded in 1927, was eventually demolished. The Casa Del Mar, founded in 1926, and is currently a hotel.

Historical Notes

“Resort and Hotel Notes,” Los Angeles Times, 10 July 1932. The article states: The opening of the Grand Hotel on the ocean front at Pico Boulevard last Wednesday was one of the most important of early summer events in Santa Monica. Formerly occupied by an exclusive beach club the building has been remodeled and redecorated to conform to the highest of hotel standards. …

Historical Notes

Helen Madison won three gold medals in freestyle event at the 1932 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, becoming, along with Romeo Neri of Italy, the most successful athlete at the 1932 Olympics.

Historical Notes

The Breakers Beach Club, founded in 1926, was converted into the Grand Hotel in 1934. Today it is the Sea Castle Apartments.

Historical Notes

This is actually a new building which replaced the previous one. The older building was irretrievably damaged in the Northridge quake.

Historical Notes

Club Casa del Mar opened in 1926 at the foot of Pico Blvd. The building was constructed by brothers E.A. "Jack" Harter and T.D. "Til" Harter, doing business as the H & H Holding Company, at a cost of $2 million.  It opened as Club Casa del Mar, a private beach club, on May 1, 1926.  Designed by Los Angeles architect Charles F. Plummer to reflect an Italian Renaissance Revival aesthetic.*

Historical Notes

Lifeguard services were initially developed during the early 1900s in response to the rise in popularity of the beach. Several municipalities had their own service before combining forces with Los Angeles County in the 1970s, creating the world's largest professional lifeguard service.^

Historical Notes

In 1941, the US Navy took over the building, utilizing it for enlisted soldiers during World War II.

By 1960, the hotel was shuttered. In 1967, Charles E. Dederich reopened the building as the Synanon Foundation, a drug rehabilitation program.

In 1978, Nathan Pritikin turned the building into the Prikikin Longevity Center, a nutrition and health care facility that closed in 1997.*

Historical Notes

In 1998, The Edward Thomas Hospitality Corporation acquired the building and converted it into a luxury hotel called the Casa del Mar Hotel.*

The Casa del Mar Hotel is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Historical Notes

The steps and bridge seen in the above photo are at the same location as the original '99 Steps" built in 1875. When the Pacific Coast Highway was built in 1927, new concrete steps and a bridge over the highway were built to allow for continued beach access.

Click HERE to see more on the original 1875-built '99 Steps".

Historical Notes

Built in 1927, the Spanish Colonial Revival style building was designed by architects Marsh, Smith & Powell.  Norman F. Marsh also planned the arcaded streets and canals of Venice.#^

Historical Notes

The Parkhurst Building was included in the National Register of Historic Places, California Register of Historic Places and designated as a Santa Monica landmark.#^

Historical Notes

As early as 1917, aviators were landing on this grassy runway perched atop a mesa just southeast of Santa Monica.  It was surrounded by stalks of barley.

Soon the landing strip became a military airfield, and in 1922 the U.S. Army named it Clover Field in honor of Greayer Clover, a fighter pilot killed in France during the First World War. Since then the site has served many purposes. First it was the western headquarters of the Army’s reserve air corps, and later Douglas Aircraft produced its line of DC planes there.^

Historical Notes

Douglas World Cruiser biplanes are the first aircraft to circumnavigate the globe in the weeks between April and September. The U.S. Army with Douglas World Cruisers, took off from Clover Field on St. Patrick’s day, March 17, 1924, and returned there after some 28,000 miles. #^#

Historical Notes

Two planes made it back, after having covered 27,553 miles in 175 days, and were greeted on their return September 23, 1924 by a crowd of 200,000 (generously estimated).*^

Historical Notes

In August 1929, seventy women held a United States pilot’s license. Of those, twenty young female aviators assembled at Clover Field on the afternoon of August 18 to take part in the groundbreaking competition. Navigating the 2700-mile course with only road maps on their laps, the women flew from Santa Monica to Cleveland via stops in Arizona, New Mexico, Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, Missouri, Illinois and Indiana. Along the way, there were continuous mishaps and a constant need for maintenance. Some competitors were forced to drop out of the race. Florence “Pancho” Barnes and Ruth Nichols crashed their aircraft. Margaret Perry contracted typhoid fever. Claire Fahy’s plane was found to have suspicious mechanical damage. Sadly, pilot Marvel Crosson, who had just set an altitude record at 23,996 feet the previous May, perished in a tragic crash. The race continued despite these perils, malfunctions and calamities. And at every stop, enthusiastic crowds gathered to meet the female flyers they had read about in the press.

At the Cleveland Municipal Airport, a throng estimated at 18,000 people greeted the pilots as they finished the race. Louise Thaden came in first, and she was followed by fourteen others: Amelia Earhart, Ruth Elder, Edith Foltz, Mary Hazlip, Jessie Keith-Miller, Opal Kunz, Blanche Noyes, Gladys O’Donnell, Phoebe Omlie, Neva Paris, Thea Rasche, Bobbi Trout (finished untimed because of two forced landings), Mary von Mach, and Vera Dawn Walker.

The Air Derby set the stage for other major air race competitions for women and supported the notion, highly suspect at the time, that women could be accomplished pilots. The race also strengthened the bonds between the participants and inspired them to organize. A few months later in 1929, most of these female aviators became founding members of The Ninety-Nines, an organization of licensed women pilots founded to promote and support women in aviation. ^v^

Historical Notes

On June 15, 1927 Santa Monica City Council changed the name of Clover Field to Santa Monica Airport (SMO).

In 1928, the City acquired an additional 60 acres to expand the Airport and to accommodate an expanding Douglas plant.

Historical Notes

Donald Wills Douglas, Sr. founded the Douglas Aircraft Company in 1921 with his first plant on Wilshire Boulevard. He built a plant in 1922 at Clover Field (Santa Monica Airport), which was in use for 46 years. In 1924, four Douglas-built planes took off from Clover Field to attempt the first aerial circumnavigation of the world. Two planes made it back, after having covered 27,553 miles in 175 days, and were greeted on their return September 23, 1924 by a crowd of 200,000 (generously estimated).*^

In 1929, Douglas enlarged its Santa Monica Airport operations, closed other facilities, and began to develop its early DC-2 and DC-3 airliners as well as other projects.

Historical Notes

Between 1941 and 1944 (During World War II), Douglas Aircraft becomes a major defense contractor, employing up to 44,000 workers who work three shifts, seven days a week. This economic engine transforms the city as thousands of new homes are built for the Douglas workers, creating Sunset Park and other neighborhoods. ^v^

Historical Notes

Douglas Aircraft Co. was a major player in the aircraft industry during World War II. Local historians note that World War II affected Santa Monica more than most places, as the Federal Government (for national security reasons) leased the Airport from the City to provide protection for Douglas Aircraft – then a major defense contractor located in Sunset Park. The government also participated in the expansion of the facility to accommodate the ever-growing production of military aircraft by Douglas Aircraft.^*^#

Historical Notes

Santa Monica CA- Along brilliantly lit assembly lines of Douglas Aircraft Company’s plant here, night crews are rushing production of DB-7B attackers bombers, recently acclaimed as night fighters in the defense of blacked out Britain. Equipped with heavy armament self-sealing fuel tanks and armor plating, these ships are proving swift and deadly in interception and downing Nazi raiders. R.A.F. early designated the DB-7 type the Boston and more recent the Havoc. Under a backlog in excess of $400,000,000 nearly 28,000 Douglas employees are working around the clock on attack ships, dive bombers and military transports for Americans and Britain. ##+

Historical Notes

At its peak, Douglas Aircraft, and Santa Monica Airport grew in size to its present 227 acres, employing 40,000 individuals.^*^#

Historical Notes

During the war the airport area was cleverly disguised from the air with the construction of a false "town" (built with the help of Hollywood craftsman) suspended atop it.

Historical Notes

Clover Field (Santa Monica Airport) was once the site of the Army’s 40th Division Aviation, 115th Observation Squadron and became a Distribution Center after World War II.

Historical Notes

In later years, Douglas Aircraft merged with a rival to become McDonnell-Douglas Corporation (1967) and moved to Long Beach (1976).  The 5,000-foot runway at what was by then known as Santa Monica Airport was too short for the firm's growing jet production.  Two decades later, McDonnell-Douglas would be absorbed by yet another rival, Boeing Company.  When the corporation left town, Douglas' son, Donald Wills Douglas Jr, set up the Donald Douglas Museum and Library to commemorate his father's legacy.  Douglas Sr. died in 1981.  Nine years later, the nonprofit Museum of Flying, founded by golf course and real estate developer David Price, superseded the old museum as part of a $20-million airport overhaul.  Exhibits included vintage planes and an immense photo of when the airport and plant operated under cover of camouflage.*#*#

Historical Notes

On January 28, 2017, it was announced that Santa Monica City officials and the Federal Aviation Administration had reached an agreement to close the Santa Monica Airport on December 31, 2028 and return 227 acres of aviation land to the city for eventual redevelopment. It is anticipated that the airport land will be redeveloped into areas for parks, open space, recreation, education and/or cultural use.

In an attempt to reduce jet traffic, the city planned to shorten the runway from 4,973 feet to 3500 feet by repainting the runway and moving some navigational aids. The shortening has been formally completed as of 2017 December 23. *^

Historical Notes

LA Times Article dated June 30, 1929 reads:

For the first time in more than a century the general public was today given access to the scenic wonders of the famous Malibu Ranch when the last link in the Roosevelt Highway, extending from Canada to Mexico, was formally opened and dedicated by Gov. Young at ceremonies in Sycamore Canyon, near the Ventura-Los Angeles county line.

Historical Notes

A motor caravan of 1500 cars filled with representatives of various organizations which have labored long and hard that this highway might be built left the Chamber of Commerce at Santa Monica at 9:30 o’clock this morning. The procession wended its way north to the canyon, where an arch was constructed on the highway. - LA Times, June 30, 1929

Historical Notes

Gov. Young, after a short speech in which he related some of the handicaps overcome in construction of the road, gave the signal to the young lady representatives of Canada and Mexico, who applied lighted tapers to an explosive so placed that its explosion severed a barrier across the highway. - LA Times, June 30, 1929

Historical Notes

The coast highway was formally dedicated as the 'Theodore Roosevelt Highway' when it was completed in 1929 and was generally known as the 'Roosevelt Highway' or 'Coast Highway' in the 1930s. It was designated as US 101A (Alternate) in 1936. State legislative action in 1964 changed many highway numbers in California, and US 101A became CA 1. In the same year, the state legislature offically named CA 1 'Pacific Coast Highway' in Orange, Los Angeles and Ventura Counties.

Historical Notes

The section of Highway 1 from Santa Monica to Oxnard, via Malibu, went out to contract in 1925 as "Coast Boulevard" but was designated "Theodore Roosevelt Highway" when it was dedicated in 1929. The Highway 1 designation was first designated in 1939. Various portions of State Highway 1 have been posted and referred to by various names and numbers over the years. State construction of what became Highway 1 started after the state's third highway bond issue passed before 1910.*^

Historical Notes

This is a photograph of a Chris Siemer painting created for a display by the L.A. Chamber of Commerce.

Historical Notes

The 12-room motel, designed in 1930s by two prominent Los Angeles architects, Burton Alexander Schutt and A. Quincy Jones, was among the first to offer a full range of services--from restaurant to gas station to garage space--for Americans beginning their love affair with the car and the open road.^

Historical Notes

This motel was different--a streamlined V-shaped building, its two wings nestled snugly against the line of the bluffs where Potrero Canyon opens to the ocean. The public areas were close to the road, the sleeping rooms on a second story away from the traffic streaming by on what was then known as Roosevelt Highway. Motel guests, shielded from the cars' noise and fumes, could relax in the rear garden and look at the canyon beyond. Or they could gaze out the angled front windows of their rooms at a sweeping ocean vista.^

Historical Notes

Drive-in Restaurants flourished in Southern California during the 1930s and 40s. Click HERE to see more Early LA Drive-in Restaurants.

(1940s)^x^ – Looking over the roofline of Carl’s-by-the-Beach Drive-in towards the ocean.

Historical Notes

By the mid-1970s, the property at the foot of the Pacific Palisades bluffs had evolved into the Sunspot, a bar and mecca for the disco dance craze.

The Sunspot complex was closed in the 1980s and sat empty for nearly 10 years.  The Los Angeles Recreation and Parks Department, which owned the property, hoped eventually to renovate and lease the building as a motel and restaurant.  However in 1994 a landslide crushed the westerly portion of the building—the part that would have been the restaurant.  Since then the City has demolished what was left of the buildings.^

Historical Notes

The beach is named after actor Will Rogers. In the 1920s, Rogers bought the land and developed a ranch along the coast. He owned 186 acres along the coast in what is now Pacific Palisades. Rogers died in a plane crash in 1935. Then when his widow, Betty, died in 1944, the ranch became a state park.

The Will Rogers State Beach lifeguard headquarters is the site of the former Port of Los Angeles Long Wharf, a California Historical Landmark, site number 881.^

Historical Notes

Will Rogers Beach was donated to the State of California by his widow, Betty, in 1944.  The County of Los Angeles has been operating the beach since 1975.^

Note the old tracks on Roosevelt Highway are still there in the above photo. The railroad tracks were removed when Roosevelt Highway was widened in 1934.

Historical Notes

In 1938, PCH was damaged by one of wettest seasons ever to hit Southern California.

Historical Notes

This section of Pacific Coast Highway was formally dedicated as the 'Theodore Roosevelt Highway' when it was completed in 1929 and was generally known as the 'Roosevelt Highway' or 'Coast Highway' in the 1930s. It was designated as US 101A (Alternate) in 1936. State legislative action in 1964 changed many highway numbers in California, and US 101A became CA 1. In the same year, the state legislature offically named CA 1 'Pacific Coast Highway' in Orange, Los Angeles and Ventura Counties.*

Gas station on left is still there. Got remodeled 15- 20 years ago. Click HERE for contemporary view.

Historical Notes

The Standard Oil Station pictured was owned by Clint Eastwood's father.

Historical Notes

William Randolph Hearst might have been the first media mogul of the 20th Century. In his day, Hearst owned 28 major newspapers and 18 magazines, as well as radio stations and movie companies. Santa Monica’s Gold Coast was so desirable that in the 1920s, Hearst, one of the richest and most powerful men in America, bought 4.91 acres of beachfront property so that he could build a mansion for his mistress, actress Marion Davies. #^*^

Historical Notes

The railroad tracks will be removed in 1934 when Roosevelt Highway is widened to 4 lanes.

Historical Notes

William Randolph Hearst commissioned William Edward Flannery to construct a grand beach house for his longtime companion, actress Marion Davies. In 1926, architect Julia Morgan (the architect of Hearst Castle) was hired to complete the design and oversee construction of the estate, which featured an ornate swimming pool, several houses, gardens and an opulent 110-room mansion. The beach house served as Davies’ primary residence from 1929 to 1942.*^*^

Historical Notes

Photo was taken shorty after railroad tracks were removed and Roosevelt Highway widened (1934).

Historical Notes

Julia Morgan created a three-story, 34-bedroom Georgian mansion on the Pacific Coast Highway in Santa Monica. Called "Ocean House" or "The Beach House," it was the grandest property in the neighborhood. Rumor has it the cost was $7 million dollars. #^*^

Historical Notes

Marion Davies was born Marion Douras in Brooklyn, New York on January 3rd, 1897. She always wanted to be a star. When she met William Randolph Hearst, she had already made a name for herself on the Broadway stage. Rumor has it she wrote her first film, "Runaway Romany," directed by her brother-in-law, George Lederer. 1918’s "Cecilia of the Pink Roses" was her first film backed by Hearst. Then her marketing campaign began.

Over the next ten years, Davies filmed an average of almost three films a year. She was a tireless worker, always trying to live up to the relentless promotional campaigns launched by Hearst.

In the early twenties, she and Hearst relocated their movie company, Cosmopolitan Productions, to California to join forces with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer studios. Once the Beach House was finished, Marion evolved into Hollywood's premiere hostess. Her parties attracted the day’s biggest stars, international dignitaries and business titans. Those who knew Davies say she never took herself seriously and was beloved by all who knew her for her gracious spirit and charitable tendencies. #^*^

Historical Notes

The three-story, 118-room, 34-bedroom, 55-bath Georgian mansion had 37 fireplaces, Tiffany chandeliers, a ballroom, a dining room from a Venetian palazzo, and a room that was coated in gold leaf. It was accompanied by three guesthouses, two swimming pools, tennis courts and dog kennels and was called “Ocean House." #***

Historical Notes

In 1947, Davies sold the estate and it was converted into the Oceanhouse Hotel and Sand & Sea Beach Club. The main mansion was demolished in 1956, and the property was sold to the State of California in 1959. The Sand & Sea Club remained popular with regulars all the way through until the 1990s.*^*^

In 2005, the Annenberg Foundation, at the recommendation of Wallis Annenberg, made a generous financial commitment to preserve the site for public use. The Annenberg Community Beach House at Santa Monica State Beach opened to the public on April 25, 2009, representing a unique partnership between the Annenberg Foundation, California State Parks and the City of Santa Monica. The total construction costs were roughly $30 million.*^

Historical Notes

The mansion's original pool was restored by the Annenberg Foundation and opened to the public on a fee for entry basis in 2009. The pool is trimmed in tile and has a marble deck. The mansion's original guest house also still exists and is used for events. New facilities include a pool house with changing areas and a second floor view deck, a new event house, a splash pad, gardens, beach volleyball/tennis courts, a children's play area, public restrooms, beach rentals, and a cafe.*^

Historical Notes

Filled with antiques and guests, the Lasky home became a magnet for stars, performers, and executives. From hosting lavish open air extravaganzas to spontaneous get-togethers, the beach house was where Hollywood culture maven Bess Lasky held court.**^

Historical Notes

"'Our Santa Monica beach house, 609 Ocean Front, was a two-story hacienda surrounding a garden with a fountain. It originally had twelve guest suites...[which] my father enlarged..still further. We became a kind of hotel for the famous...I can remember no time when we were not inundated with house guests.” – Jesse L. Lasky, Jr.

In 1930, Lasky traded Paramount shares and the beach house to Harry Warner for $250K.**^

Historical Notes

The Hollywood set and the uber-rich were drawn to Santa Monica’s beach in the 1920s & 30s. The opulent residences they constructed north of the Pier and fabulous parties they threw earned this stretch of sand the nickname of “Gold Coast”.

Many other Hollywood stars, producers and movie studio moguls also built homes on Santa Monica's beach in the 1920s.  Douglas Fairbanks and Mary Pickford were among the first to make the move.*^*^

Historical Notes

IIn the 1920s, “Promoters decided to create a fantastic club (Gables Beach Club) and hotel complex on the cliffs at the foot of Montana Avenue...Designed to emulate the grandest castle-like structures of Europe.....would be twenty-one stories high and would include the first new bridge to span the beach road." - (from the book) Santa Monica Beach by Ernest Marquez

Historical Notes

Originally designed to be 21 storys tall, only three stories were completed (1928) when the Great Depression hit. The smaller building would be used as a garage for Gables Beach Club across the street until a fire partially destroyed the club (1930). Within two years the club was rebuilt and reopened as the Sorrento Beach Club and the 3-story building continued to be used as a parking garage until 1962.

Click HERE to see a postcard illustration of the proposed 21-story Gables Hotel.

Historical Notes

The Sorrento Ruins were left standing until the 1970s and then demolished.  Today, part of the foundation is still visible and is being used as a retaining wall.

Historical Notes

Footpaths like the Sunset Trail and stairways like the 99 Steps preceded it, but the California Incline was the first automobile shortcut over Santa Monica’s ocean bluffs. When it opened around 1905, Linda Vista Drive (as it was then called) was a dirt path carved into the cliffside. Only later was it paved and named for its intersection with California Avenue. *

Historical Notes

The California Incline was widened and improved between 1929-1930 by the CA Division of Highways (later Cal Trans). This was about the same time the coast highway was improved and officially named the Roosevelt Highway. 

The coast highway was formally dedicated as the 'Theodore Roosevelt Highway' when it was completed in 1929 and was generally known as the 'Roosevelt Highway' or the 'Pacific Coast Highway'.  In 1936, it was designated as US 101A (Alternate). In 1964, state legislative action changed many highway numbers in California, and US 101A became CA 1.

Historical Notes

In the early 1990s, the California Incline was deemed “structurally insufficient” and in 2007, funding was finally secured to rebuild the historic structure, most of it from a welcome federal grant. In April 2015, after more bureaucratic delays, the California Department of Transportation, in partnership with the City of Santa Monica, began construction of a new bridge that met current seismic standards while paying homage to the Incline’s PWA-era look as seen in the rebuilt balustrade, and the restored neon sign.*

Historical Notes

Reopened with much civic fanfare on September 1, 2016, today’s Incline consists of a reinforced concrete slab supported by 96 concrete pilings thrust deeply into the bluffs. Over 1,000 soil nails stabilize the erosion-prone sandstone along the eastern edge of the bridge.

The expanded Incline is now multi-modal, accommodating three lanes of traffic, as well as walking and biking lanes that have become popular with families and fitness buffs alike. Two new pedestrian bridges, impressive in their own right, connect to the Incline, one leading back up the bluffs to Palisades Park and the other down to the beach.*

Historical Notes

The new tunnel connected Roosevelt Highway with Olympic Boulevard, which leads into Lincoln Boulevard.

The tunnel was formerly used, before its reconstruction into a much larger capacity road, by Pacific Electric Streetcar system.

Historical Notes

Later named McClure Tunnel after Robert McClure who was a proponent of the Santa Monica Freeway, a member of the state highway commission and known locally as editor and publisher of the Santa Monica Evening Outlook. Roosevelt Highway of course, became known as Pacific Coast Highway.

Historical Notes

Photo caption reads: "Through tunnel to coast at Santa Monica went a cavalcade of autos when the ribbon was cut February 1st. Flat arch construction and four traffic lanes are features."

"Plans for an elaborate dedicatory ceremony which included a parade and barbecue in the tunnel were called off shortly before the exercises were to commence because of the unfavorable weather conditions." #**

Historical Notes

The tunnel became known as the Olympic Tunnel. In 1969, it was renamed the Robert E. McClure Tunnel – honoring the former editor of the Santa Monica Outlook. Today the tunnel connects the Santa Monica Freeway and Pacific Coast Highway.^#^

Actor Doug McClure was part of the family whose name is on this famous tunnel that leads to the sea.

Historical Notes

The roof line of the Deauville Club located on Santa Monica Beach can be seen in the background.

(1936)^**^ - Postcard view of the Santa Monica Pier and Beach looking from Palisades Park. Route 66, End of the Trail sign at lower right.

Historical Notes

In 1936, Route 66 was extended from downtown Los Angeles to Santa Monica, today the intersection of Olympic Boulevard and Lincoln Boulevard (a segment of State Route 1). Even though there is a plaque dedicating Route 66 as the Will Rogers Highway placed at the intersection of Ocean Boulevard and Santa Monica Boulevard, the highway never terminated there.

Route 66 was unofficially named "The Will Rogers Highway" by the U.S. Highway 66 Association in 1952, although a sign along the road with that name appeared in the John Ford film, The Grapes of Wrath, which was released in 1940, twelve years before the association gave the road that name. A plaque dedicating the highway to Will Rogers is still located in Santa Monica (Ocean and Santa Monica Boulevards).*^

Historical Notes

The 18-ft. high Art Deco Sculpture for whom Santa Monica was named was sculpted in 1934 by Eugene Morahan as a Public Works of Art project and presented to the citizens of Santa Monica by the Federal Government.

Morahan and his wife (Grace) lived at the Tennis Club on Third Street in Santa Monica where the statue was caste in the backyard. It was to be installed during the celebration of Pioneer Day and as Morahan was under great pressure to complete his work by that deadline, he contacted his good friend and fellow sculptor, Gutzon Borglum to leave his work on Mount Rushmore and come down to help him finish his work on Saint Monica.+#

Historical Notes

The statue is located at the foot of Wilshire Boulevard just a block or so north of Santa Monica Boulevard.

Historical Notes

In the 1920s, Santa Monica was thriving both as a popular tourist destination and as home to a budding aviation industry and other businesses. Though Santa Monicans had long trekked to downtown Los Angeles for important shopping, Santa Monica’s downtown was at last coming into its own as a full-service retail center. Henshey’s Department Store, founded by Harry C. Henshey and his partners, was crucial to this change. *##^

Historical Notes

Henshey’s was Santa Monica’s first department store and, at four stories, one of the city’s tallest commercial buildings. The building itself was owned by Charles Tegner, one of Henshey’s partners. Tegner built many commercial structures in Santa Monica and was a key figure in the city’s business community at the time. The architect selected for the building was also well-known locally—Henry C. Hollwedel.  Hollwedel began his career as an architect in New York but relocated here and completed many important commissions in Santa Monica, including the Santa Monica Bay Woman’s Club and the Mayfair Theatre.

The Henshey’s store, as originally designed by Hollwedel, was a steel frame and brick structure in the Beaux Arts Classical Revival style, a grandiose style often used in public buildings of the time. The original store featured bays of paired windows embellished with terra cotta details, as well as an imposing cornice and a terra cotta frieze. Santa Monica’s Outlook newspaper reported at the time that Henshey’s was “one of the best advertisements Santa Monica has ever had…its imposing bulk, towering over the adjacent structures around it arouses interest and speculation.” Even more important, Henshey’s showed that “Santa Monica is no longer a village with village stores and standards. She has grown up and is now a big city.” *##^

Historical Notes

Constructed in 1928, the symmetrical Central Tower Building is designed in the Art Deco style. The irregular-shaped building is comprised of two-story store fronts along the west side of 4th Street with an eight-story central tower rising from the middle of the 4th Street facing volume.**#

Historical Notes

The beautiful Art-Deco style eight story commercial building was designed by Morien Eugene Durfee who was also the architect for the Georgian Hotel on Ocean Avenue.  It was constructed by C.L. Freeman and J. Wesley Forder and developed by the Central Tower Investment Company and A.P. Creel.

Historical Notes

Although Henshey’s was praised when first constructed in 1925, the building was altered significantly as the years passed and architectural fashions changed. In 1936 it underwent a major remodel as the ground floor and mezzanine were remade in the Streamline Moderne style so popular in the 30s. At the same time, a one-story extension (also Streamline Moderne) was annexed to the building along Fourth Street. By the 1960s this look too was outdated, and in 1962 both the original four-story building and the annex were entirely encased behind punched aluminum screens, changing their look dramatically.

Henshey’s Department Store occupied these buildings from 1925 until 1992 when recession and competition from other retailers led to the store’s closing. Then, in the 1994 Northridge earthquake, the Henshey’s building and annex were damaged beyond repair and the landmark was demolished soon after. *##^

Historical Notes

John M. Cooper designed this movie theater, which includes both Neoclassical and Art Deco architectural elements. When it opened in 1931 for stage and film productions, the theater had seating for 1,500 all in one auditorium, however two auditoriums were created in 1977 under the ownership of Mann Theatres. In the early 1990’s, Landmark Theatres took over operations and changed its name to NuWilshire.

Historical Notes

Opened in 1938, the only part of the old El Miro Theatre that is left is the facade. The theater was razed in the late 80’s and the newer Cineplex Broadway 4 Theatre is located on that site now.***

Historical Notes

The El Miro Theatre was designed by Norman W. Alpaugh.

Historical Notes

From the 60’s thru the 80’s, the El Miro Theatre was part of many chains including Century, Loew’s, GCC, and Metropolitan Theatres (Metropolitan being the last). Loew’s redressed the house in the early 70’s with those purple and blue curtains of that era. That was the last time this theater received a makeover before it was closed and demolished.***

Historical Notes

The Clock Tower Building was built between 1929 and 1930 in Art Déco style. For around 40 years it held the record for the tallest building in the Santa Monica skyline. The skyscraper was commissioned by the Bay Cities Guaranty and Loan Association to the Californian architects Albert Raymond Walker and Percy Augustin Eisen, whose firm, Walker & Eisen, with a staff of more than 50 draughtsmen, was the most important leading practice in California in the 1920s. Among its many completed projects, the firm had recently designed the extraordinary skyscraper in the Romanesque Revival style known as the Fine Arts Building in Los Angeles (now owned by Sorgente Group of America), one of the most representative buildings in the city.^

Historical Notes

The Clock Tower Building, not far from the beaches washed by the ocean and with an unobstructed view of the nearby mountains, occupies a rectangular lot located at 225 Santa Monica Boulevard, in the heart of the city’s business district and close to the main thoroughfare Third Street Promenade. The ground floor of the skyscraper, in the form of a compact parallelepipedal block surmounted by a tower, is occupied by retail spaces, and the upper stories by offices.^

Historical Notes

Constructed in 1929 it was the first high-rise in Santa Monica. It was designed by Albert Walker and Percy Eisen in the Art Deco style. Walker and Eisen were responsible for numerous notable structures in Los Angeles, such as the home of the former United Artists Theatre in downtown Los Angeles now the Ace Hotel, the Beverly Wilshire hotel in Beverly Hills.*

Historical Notes

The twelve office floors are crowned by a crenellated border, where the most ornate decorations on the cladding are concentrated. The tapered, stepped tower on the top is also faced with white marble slabs, which form a zigzag pattern in relief on the sides and around the edge of the summit; it is visible from everywhere in the city and rendered instantly recognizable due to its rectangular clock with four black dials (one on each side of the tower), and whose shining hands mark the exact time and are an urban signal in the city.^

Historical Notes

Due to its height, its imposing volumes and the immediate recognizability of its architecture, the Clock Tower Building has possessed a powerful urban identity since it was built. This makes it a true landmark that acts as a compass and guide in the boundless Santa Monica cityscape.^

Historical Notes

The Georgian Hotel was established in 1931. Built during the peak of California's coastal expansion in the 1920s and 1930s, the historic hotel was the vision of Attorney and Judge, Harry J. Borde. Showcasing Romanesque Revival and Art Deco architecture, the hotel was among the first skyscrapers to call Ocean Avenue home.^

The Art Deco eight story Georgian Hotel was one of the first high rise hotels in Santa Monica. It sits on Ocean Avenue and looks out on the Pacific Ocean. The bar downstairs was frequented by Hollywood luminaries such as Clark Gable and Carole Lombard. The Georgian was also home base for the Kennedy clan with First Mother Rose Kennedy a fixture at the hotel while she entertained Hollywood royalty and journalists.^

Historical Notes

In the 1940s and 1950s, Santa Monica was taken by a technological and industrial boom, led by the Donald Douglas Aircraft Factory. Guests of Douglas Aircraft's would call The Georgian their temporary home while in LA. Those taking up residence included aircraft designers, servicemen during WWII, and gamblers who would take a motorboat offshore to spend an evening aboard the casino barges anchored a few miles offshore in Santa Monica Bay.

In the late 1960s, The Georgian reinvented itself as a modern upscale apartment residence, with unheard of amenities like a bathroom in every guest room.

Historical Notes

As Hollywood's elite flocked to the beach to escape the valley heat, The Georgian's popularity grew. It was nicknamed "The Lady" in honor of Mr. Borde's mother, Rosamond Borde, who was a modern woman who had opened a hotel called The Windermere on the adjacent lot.

Historical Notes

As time passed, the basement restaurant of the Georgian Hotel earned a great deal of attention. One of the last strongholds of the Prohibition Era, it was considered a true Speakeasy, which hosted the likes of "Bugsy" Siegel, Clark Gable, Roscoe "Fatty" Arbuckle, Carole Lombard, and dozens of other film stars and industry moguls.

Historical Notes

The Georgian Hotel was designated a Santa Monica historical landmark on February 22, 1995.*

Please Support Our Cause

Water and Power Associates, Inc. is a non-profit, public service organization dedicated to preserving historical records and photos. 

Your generosity allows us to continue to disseminate knowledge of the rich and diverse multicultural history of the greater Los Angeles area; to serve as a resource of historical information; and to assist in the preservation of the city's historic records.