The waterfront made the city famous. A string of amusement piers rose along the bay in the resort decades, and of them all, the 1909 Santa Monica Pier is the one that survived — the municipal pier and its pleasure-pier twin, carrying the 1916 Looff Hippodrome, a National Historic Landmark whose hand-carved carousel horses still circle under the old dome. Pacific Park's rides came later; the wooden deck, the anglers at the rail, and the long walk over the water are the originals.
Santa Monica as a town dates to 1875, when a Nevada silver senator, John P. Jones, and a ranching colonel, Robert Baker, laid it out as a seaside resort — a "Pearl of the Pacific" they hoped would become Los Angeles's great port. Jones built his railroad and his mile-long wharf, and for a time the port dream was real: Santa Monica served as the region's port of call into the early 1900s, until San Pedro took the harbor trade for good. The city incorporated in 1886 and kept the better inheritance — the beach.
Why People Visit Santa Monica
Santa Monica rewards visitors with a rare mix — a historic amusement pier, the western end of Route 66, miles of state beach, and one of America's great walking downtowns, all on a bright Pacific bay. People come for the pier and the End of the Trail, and stay for the sunsets off the bluffs and the easy, salt-aired grace of California's beach city.
