Long before the road or the pier, this stretch of coast was home to the Tongva — the Gabrielino people — who lived along Santa Monica Bay for centuries, fishing its waters and trading along the shore. A Spanish expedition under Portolá camped nearby in 1769 and left the name of a saint on the place; through the Mexican era the land lay in ranchos, and Tongva Park downtown now carries the first people's name at the center of the city.
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.
