Venice CA Historic Sites Tour

visit venice's historic, beautiful, and fascinating sites

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Venice CA Historic Sites Tour

Venice, California 90291, United States

Created By: preserving public places

Tour Information

Venice was built by Abbot Kinney in 1905 as a mash up of Venice, Italy and Coney Island. He dredged a "swamp" aka wetlands, to form islands and canals with iconic archtiecture, fantastic amusements, beautiful gardens and more. Come along for the ride.


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What You'll See on the Tour

Venice Canal District  The existing canals are significant as a unique example of early-20th century residential development oriented around the original Venice canals developed by Venice of America founder Abbot Kinney.  The canals that ... Read more
2 - Warren Wilson Beach House  15 30th Avenue Warren Wilson, owner and editor of the Los Angeles Daily Journal, built the Warren Wilson Beach House in 1911 as a summer home for his wife and eight children where it stood among the sand dune... Read more
3 - Venice Branch Library 610 California Avenue The first Venice Branch Library was in a large storefront building at 1110 Washington Blvd. (later West Washington Blvd. and then Abbot Kinney Blvd.) at which time it was under the jurisdictio... Read more
4 - Venice Division Police Station  685 Venice Blvd. In 1906, with the City of Venice growing, the Ocean Park Trustees formed a new police department, hiring officers for $65 per month. Officers maintained a daily journal, commonly known a... Read more
5 - “Binoculars” Building 340 Main Street The “Binoculars” was designed by Frank Gehry and built between 1985 –1991 for advertising agency Chiat/Day. The building is notable for three different architectural styles that make up th... Read more
6 - Venice Arcades, Columns and Capitals 67-71 Windward Avenue  Constructed in 1904 by Abbot Kinney as part of his Venice-of-America development, and designed by C. H. Russell, the arcades were patterned after those surrounding the Piazza ... Read more
7 - Venice of America House 1223 Cabrillo Avenue Officially designated the “Venice of America House” by the Department of the Interior, this late Victorian residence built 1904-05, features a byzantine dome and stacked double arched fro... Read more
8 - Venice City Hall  681 Venice Blvd. In 1906, there was a power struggle between Abbot Kinney and Ocean Park’s Board of Trustees. When the residents passed a bond issue to finance a city hall, Kinney offered several parcels of land as ... Read more
9 - Lincoln Place Apartments 1138 East Lake Street & Other Addresses Lincoln Place Apartments, a garden-style complex on 38 acres east of Lincoln Blvd., was designed by Ralph Vaughn, an early African American architect, and Heath Wharto... Read more
10 - Temple Mishkon Tephilo  206 Main Street In 1914, a group of Ocean Park Jews got together for the first time to hold High Holy Days service and incorporated in 1917, making the Temple Mishkon Tephilo the oldest operating synagogue on t... Read more
11 - Kinney-Tabor House 1310 Sixth Avenue Abbot Kinney built the oldest part of the Kinney -Tabor House circa 1906 as a bunkhouse for canal workers. It was then leased by the Cosmos Club for a women’s group, used as a grade school and as ... Read more
12 - Sturdevant Bungalow   721 Amoroso Place The Sturdevant Bungalow is one of a grouping of homes that were built on spec by William G. Laueson in the Venice Annex Tract. Laueson had been building homes in Venice, Ocean Park and Santa Mon... Read more
13 - Venice West Café  7 Dudley Avenue Before the hippies of the ‘60s, Venice was home to the Beats of the ‘50s. It was a cherished lifestyle that enabled struggling poets, musicians and artists to escape from conventional codes of be... Read more
14 - 1110-1116 Abbot Kinney 1110-1116 Abbot Kinney Boulevard exemplifies significant contributions as a rare, intact example of early commercial development located along the former Venice Short Line and for its association with postwar mus... Read more
15 - Irvin Tabor Family Residences 605-607 Westminster Avenue The Irvin Tabor Family Residences, a multifamily residential courtyard property spanning two lots, was developed between 1916 and 1926 as housing for extended family. Tabor and h... Read more
16 - Monday Women’s Club 1209 6th Avenue @ San Juan Street The Monday Women’s Club, a one-story institutional building, is a rare example of an African American women’s clubhouse building in Venice, important for its role in the socia... Read more
17 - Morris Abrams Chateau des Roses 515 Rose Avenue / 254 Rennie Avenue  The Morris Abrams Chateau des Roses is a two-story multi-family residence built in 1946 and designed in the Late Chateauesque architectural style by Los Angeles arch... Read more
18 - The Potter  1305 Ocean Front Walk The Potter, a four-story residential hotel building designed with Neoclassical-style elements, is associated with early 20th century leisure tourism in Venice. It is a rare example of a 1910s apartmen... Read more
19 - Winn Apartments 417 Ocean Front Walk The Winn Apartments, built in 1921, is a four-story, 32-unit apartment building with a partial basement and partial roof deck. The Italianate architectural style building was originally constructed ... Read more
20 - First Baptist Church of Venice    686 Westminster Avenue The First Baptist Church in Venice’s multi-story sanctuary building is a rare surviving example in the area of a mid-century modern place of worship, a style that was popular... Read more
21 - Wyckoff Residence 1107 South Abbot Kinney Boulevard The Wyckoff Residence is a rare example of early residential development on Abbot Kinney Boulevard, formerly West Washington Boulevard, associated with the early development of Venice... Read more
22 - SA ANGNA (Sacred Burial Site of Gabrielino Indians) 4231-4363 Lincoln Boulevard at Admiralty Way  It was a major village and burial site of the Native American Gabrielino Indian Tribe. The site has yielded upwards of a dozen human bur... Read more
The Red Line Trolley Car brought workers to build Venice of America, and later tourists to visit this unique community. This is the original bridge, built in 1900. This portion of the Venice Canals is the only original portion, dredged by V... Read more
This was the heart of the original canals built by Abbot Kinney. Kinney was a developer with a special vision:  in 1905 he dredged swampland to create romantic canals and islands, forming a unique seaside town:  Venice of America.  The K... Read more
Spanning Windward at Pacific Avenue, the VENICE Sign is a modern replica of the original sign installed in 1905 by the creator of Venice of America, Abbot Kinney. In 2007, the Venice Sign Restoration Project recreated and installed this... Read more
Excerpts from the Historic Cultural Monument nomination 2024: Venice Lifeguard Station is a ... unique and exuberant  expression of..." three-story "hexagonal" institutional building located on the sand of Venice Beach southwest of S. Ocea... Read more
Excerpt from the Historic Cultural Monument designation: "The subject property “is associated with the lives of historic personages important to national, state, city, or local history” as the long-time home of Arthur Reese, the town de... Read more
The island and presumably the cottages were created by Abbot Kinney. They continue to be a wonderful complex of rental bungalows. Each cottage on United States Island is named for a U.S. state. Originally the island was surrounded by cana... Read more
The Castle, built by Francis X. Bushman, silent screen star and frequently visited by Rudolph Valentino.  Francis X. Bushman(1883-1966) https://digitalconverters.co.uk/blog/the-life-of-francis-xavier-bushman-1883-1966 "Bushman's portraya... Read more
The Breeze Hotel (important architectural contributor to Ocean Front areal LANDMARK PER VENICE HISTORIC SITES SURVEY REPORT OF 1990
Craftsman apartment hotel built 1909 youth hotel. LANDMARK PER VENICE HISTORIC SITES SURVEY REPORT OF 1990
Craftsman bungalow built in 1911 by Mr. Earl H. Ingalls, President of the First National Bank of San Jacinto. Venice. "...born in Etna, New Hampshire, on August 13, 1888.  He is the son of Edward O. and Kate (Howland) Ingalls. Mr. Ingalls... Read more
633 California Avenue, two side by side bungalows on one property, built in 1912 Exterior and interior views in this sales listing: https://www.redfin.com/CA/Venice/633-California-Ave-90291/home/6742456 LANDMARK PER VENICE HISTORIC SITES... Read more
1336 Electric Avenue, 1924 Duron Plumbing, built 1924 in new modern style. LANDMARK PER VENICE HISTORIC SITES SURVEY REPORT OF 1990

 

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