Audrey Fullerton-Samora of Sacramento, great niece of William and Grace McCarthy, donated the William M. McCarthy Photograph Collection to the California State Archives in 1996
Date Created and/or Issued
1911
Publication Information
California State Archives, a division of the California Secretary of State's Office
Caption: "Venice, Calif," c. 1911. Grace McCarthy and an unidentified woman standing on a bridge over Lion Canal in Venice, California. In 1905, Abbot Kinney built a series of canals as part of a development project along Santa Monica Beach, hoping to recreate the look and feel of Italy's iconic "Floating City" in southern California. Called Ocean Park at first, gondoliers sailed boats under elegant bridges such as the one shown in this photograph, in an effort to attract businesses, residents, and investors. In 1911, the name officially changed to Venice. By 1929, however, many of the canals had been filled in to create roadways, and those canals that remained fell into disrepair. A revitalization movement in the early 1990s has restored some of the canals, and made the area a desirable residential neighborhood.
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