Venice, California

Venice, California, was unlike any other American city. A miniature railway, an amusement pier, gondolas, elephants, fire divers, Mardi Gras, beauty contests, stunt pilots, and 6 miles of canals overlooking the Pacific Ocean all made Abbot Kinney's Venice-of-America the most popular California resort town of its early century era.

This pictorial retrospective illustrates Venice's history from its beginnings in 1880 through the Great Fire and Consolidation, to the advent of the rollerskaters ...