Venice is a town located on west-side of Los Angeles, California. It includes famous Venice Beach and a boardwalk, as well as a small web of canals, downtown, and residential area. Venice of America was founded by pioneer developer Abbot Kinney in 1905 as a resort town, and was modeled after Venice Italy.
Venice Canals
"Ocean Front Walk" or "the boardwalk" is the promenade (and the bike path) that runs parallel to the beach. It features the "Muscle Beach", the tennis courts, Skate Dancing Plaza, a number of beach volleyball courts, parking lots, "Graffiti Park" and the businesses and residences on the Ocean Front Walk.
Venice Beach Boardwalk
Along the southern portion of Venice Beach, at the end of Washington Boulevard, is a 1,310-foot concrete structure of Venice Fishing Pier (opened in 1964). On December 21, 2005, the pier suffered damage from waves of an unusually big northern swell.
History of Venice Beach includes Venice's amusement parks that were very popular in the first half of the 20th Century but were either burned to the ground or destroyed by storms.
Venice was annexed to Los Angeles in 1925, and shortly after most of the canals were filled in to allow for automobile traffic. In the 1930's hundreds of oil wells covered the area, and drilling waste clogged the remaining waterways. It was a short-lived boom, but the wells were still producing oil into the 1970's.
Famous rock star Jim Morrison, leader of the band "Doors", lived in Venice in the late 50's.
Venice Beach is a magnet for tourists, artists and merchants, street performers and entertainers, surfers and rollerbladers, as well as exercising and dog walking locals, drunks, crazies and homeless people. It is well-known for its eclectic, counterculture atmosphere and laid-back California lifestyle, and is generally a safe and fun place to visit any time of the year.
