Title supplied by cataloger. The New Jersey native inherited his father's tobacco business and made a substantial fortune manufacturing Sweet Caporal cigarettes. With ample funds at his disposal, Kinney traveled extensively throughout Europe, Asia and the Pacific. Once after he was unable to return by train to the East Coast from San Francisco due to heavy snow, he traveled to Southern California. At the Sierra Madre Villa Hotel in the foothills of Pasadena, his asthma, a condition from which he regularly suffered, cleared up. The obvious healthful benefits of the climate led him to purchase 550 acres near the hotel and to create a ranch called Kinneloa. As part of a business settlement, Kinney found himself in possession of the southern section of a beach near Santa Monica. In 1891 he built the resort of Ocean Park, which became the center of his coastal amusement paradise, Venice of America. Easily accessible by streetcar from both Santa Monica and Los Angeles, Venice, which opened in 1905, included canals, gondolas and gondoliers, Venetian-style buildings, an amusement pier, a dancehall and an auditorium. Kinney died of lung cancer two weeks short of his 70th birthday in 1920 and is buried at Woodlawn Cemetery in Santa Monica. Portrait of Abbot Kinney (1850-1920), founder of the Los Angeles community of Venice.
Type
image
Format
1 photographic print :b&w ;26 x 21 cm. Photographic prints
If you're wondering about permissions and what you can do with this item, a good starting point is the "rights information" on this page. See our terms of use for more tips.
Share your story
Has Calisphere helped you advance your research, complete a project, or find something meaningful? We'd love to hear about it; please send us a message.
