Venice los angeles

Venice was founded by Abbot Kinney in as a seaside resort town.

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It was an independent city until , when it was annexed by Los Angeles. Venice is known for its canals, a beach, and Ocean Front Walk, a 2. Later this became part of Port Ballona. Venice, originally called "Venice of America", was founded by wealthy developer Abbot Kinney in as a beach resort town, 14 miles 23 km west of Los Angeles.

He and his partner Francis Ryan had bought 2 miles 3 km of ocean-front property south of Santa Monica in They built a resort town on the north end of the property, called Ocean Park, which was soon annexed to Santa Monica. After Ryan died, Kinney and his new partners continued building south of Navy Street.

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After the partnership dissolved in , Kinney, who had won the marshy land on the south end of the property in a coin flip with his former partners, began to build a seaside resort like the namesake Italian city. When Venice of America opened on July 4, , Kinney had dug several miles of canals to drain the marshes for his residential area, built a 1,foot-long m pier with an auditorium, ship restaurant, and dance hall, constructed a hot salt-water plunge, and built a block-long arcaded business street with Venetian architecture.

Kinney hired artist Felix Peano to design the columns of the buildings. Included in the capitals are several faces, modeled after Kinney and a woman named Nettie Bouck. The biggest attraction was Venice's 1-mile-long 1. Cottages and housekeeping tents were available for rent. The population 3, residents in soon exceeded 10,; the town drew 50, to , tourists on weekends.