33.9907° N 118.4623° W
Venice
Abbot Kinney opened his canal city in 1905. Canal-front houses, walk streets and architect-built lofts, three square miles between Santa Monica and the Marina.
History
How Venice came to be.
- 1905
Abbot Kinney opens "Venice of America," a seaside resort with canals, gondolas and Italian-style arcades. The same year, developers Moses Sherman and Eli Clark dig the canals that survive today.
- 1926
Venice joins Los Angeles. Voters approve consolidation in 1925 and the city takes over the next year. In 1929 most of the canals are filled in and paved as streets.
- 1929
Oil is struck south of Washington Street. Within two years about 450 wells cover the area. The last of them are capped in 1991.
- 1982
The surviving canals join the National Register of Historic Places, and in 1993 a full restoration gives them new walls and walkways.
- 1991
Frank Gehry's Binoculars Building opens on Main Street, one of the architect's several Venice works, alongside houses such as the Spiller House and Norton House.
Points of interest
Places that define Venice
Each number matches a pin on the map above. Hover either one to find the other.
Fun facts
Things even locals forget
Orson Welles made Venice a Mexican border town.
Nearly all of Touch of Evil (1958) was filmed on Venice streets, including its famous opening shot down Windward Avenue's arcades.
The Doors started here.
Ray Manzarek and Jim Morrison formed the band in Venice in 1965, after meeting again on the beach.
Abbot Kinney Boulevard is a rebrand.
It was West Washington Boulevard until the late 1980s, when merchants renamed it for the town's founder.
Venice real estate
Homes for sale in Venice
Every active Venice listing on the MLS, updated through the day.
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Venice market report
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