The twentieth century layered on the rest: the 1920s "Gold Coast" of beach mansions brought the first Hollywood money to the sand; the palm-lined bluffs of Palisades Park became the city's grand balcony; the Third Street Promenade turned downtown into one of America's great walking streets; and the farmers market grew into a Wednesday institution that feeds half the restaurant kitchens in Los Angeles. Through it all the pier kept its promise — and in 1998 the Ferris wheel went solar, the first of its kind, so the wheel over the Pacific now runs on the same sunshine that built the town.
Today Santa Monica is California's beach and the end of America's road. Its story runs from the Tongva coast and the senator's 1875 resort, through the amusement-pier era, the birth of Douglas Aircraft, and the 1936 arrival of Route 66, to the solar wheel turning over the Pacific tonight. Wear a little of the place where the road runs out and the ocean begins.
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.
