1898(1896)(1897)(1899)(1890-1900)(1900-1910)Table of Contents

 

 

Sources

 

 

Anon. Ocean Park and Venice Timeline (1890-1909), Web Document, 2005b, 1898  See Text

Harry Carr Los Angeles City of Dreams (Illustrated by E.H. Suydam), D. Appleton-Century Co.: NY, 1935, 402 pp., 1935, 1898 See Text

Donald M. Cleland A History of the Santa Monica Schools 1876-1951, Santa Monica Unified School District, February 1952 (Copied for the Santa Monica Library, July 22, 1963). 140 pp., 1910, 1898 See Text

Ingersoll's Century History Santa Monica Bay Cities (Being Book Number Two of Ingersoll's Century Series of California Local History Annals), 1908, 1908a, 1898
Chapter VI South Santa Monica and Ocean Park
Chapter VII Public Institutions: Schools; Public Library; Post Offices; Boards of Trade, Chambers of Commerce, Improvement Clubs; Santa Monica City Officials
Chapter VIII Churches and Societies: Baptist Church; Methodist Church
See Text

Ocean Park Pier opened August 28, 1898, ca. 1898  See Image and Text

The Richmonds listening to their first Edison Phonograph c. 1898  See Image and Text

Charles Richmond in Michigan, 1898, See Image

Frederick H. Rindge* Happy Days in Southern California Frederick H. Rindge: Cambridge, Mass. and Los Angeles, Calif., 1898, 200pp. Printed at the Riverside Press, Cambridge, Mass. [From Google Books, 2008]

Jeffrey Stanton* Founding of Ocean Park, Web Document, April 6, 1998, 1898, 1895, 1890s See Text

Betty Lou Young Our First Century: The Los Angeles Athletic Club 1880-1980, LAAC Press: Los Angeles, California 1979, 176pp., 1898  See Text

 

 

Notes

 

 Anon. Ocean Park and Venice Timeline (1890-1909), Web Document, 2005b, 1898

     "The resort in March consisted of 150 beach cottages, and a small commercial district along Pier Avenue.
      "A building boom added 40 new beach cottages, several stores, and Kinney*'s new 40 acre Ocean Park race course and golf links.
      "Kinney* and Ryan* were granted permission to built a 1250 foot long pier at Pier Avenue over Santa Monica's city outfall sewer pipes. The town celebrated the pier's opening on August 29th with a clambake picnic.
     "Francis Ryan*, Kinney*'s partner, died of a heart attack."
 

[p. 243] Annual Assessment of City of Santa Monica, 1887-1907, 1908a

1898 $1,871,588.00
 

 

 

Documents:

 

 

Harry Carr Los Angeles City of Dreams (Illustrated by E.H. Suydam), D. Appleton-Century Co.: NY, 1935, 402 pp., 1935, 1898

Chapter XIV What We Reporters Knew

     "[ p. 170]

     "[p. 170] It was a "homey" little city then; we all knew everybody. We were still naive and perhaps unsophisticated; but Los Angeles in its greater days has never been so charming.

     "As nearly as by anything else, this general period was punctuated by the Spanish American War. It began when we were still a little hick town. When it ended, we began to grow into a city-and to become conscious of the fact that the next era of the world's history would be in the Pacific and we would be the front door.

     ""I was perhaps the only war correspondent in the history of newpaperdom who ever started out for the war trail at fourteen dollars a week. I can remember the days when I plodded around town in burning excitement from the colonel's office to the adjutant's office to find out if orders had come from our militia regiment to avenge the sinking of the battleship Maine . . .

     "[p.171] But our Seventh Regiment did not sail. It wa a political [p. 172] war and the Secretary of War-General Alger-gnashed his teeth at the thought of Los Angeles. Congress had reversed his ruling by giving the breakwater to San Pedro instead of Santa Monica-and the Southern Pacific Railroad. So he took out his spleen on the militia from our pueblo . . .

 

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Donald M. Cleland A History of the Santa Monica Schools 1876-1951, Santa Monica Unified School District, February 1952 (Copied for the Santa Monica Library, July 22, 1963). 140 pp., 1910, 1898

Santa Monica High School

     In 1910, twelve years after the revelation by the Weekly Signal, [48. Supra, p. 110] it had become an established fact that the high school had outgrown the "borrowed" Lincoln School building, and that a new building must be provided.

 

 

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Ingersoll's Century History Santa Monica Bay Cities (Being Book Number Two of Ingersoll's Century Series of California Local History Annals), 1908, 1908a, 1898  

[p. 252] Chapter VI South Santa Monica and Ocean Park

Ocean Park District

     The settlement known as Ocean Park was separated from Santa Monica by the arroyo and the wide unimproved tract belonging to the Southern Pacific reservation. This was unfortunate, as it made communication between the two points difficult. The Santa Fe service was irregular; the horse car line and its successor, the electric line, gave infrequent service; the drive over dusty, ungraded roads, and rickety bridges was not tempting, and the walking through a mile of sand or dust was certainly not attractive. The settlement about the Santa Fe depot and the Y.M.C.A. holdings was largely made up of transient visitors from the interior, who rented cottages, or built upon leased lands. They seldom visited Santa Monica and scarcely realized that they were within that municipality. It was natural that they should object to the long journey to the postoffice and begin to express a desire for a postoffice of their own. During 1898 the subject was agitated and promises secured, although the office did not open for business until July, 1899.

     This year Kinney and Ryan opened the Ocean Park race track and golf links, which were improved by grading and planting a large number of trees. One of the first golf tournaments held in California took place on these links when they were opened to the public, in July, 1898. The same gentlemen had contracted with the city trustees to build a wharf on the pilings used to carry the outfall sewer. This wharf was located at what was known as Pier avenue and was completed by August. It was 1,250 feet in length and afforded a fine opportunity to fishermen and pleasure seekers. The proprietors invited the public to a free barbecue and clambake on the evening of Monday, August 29th, which was attended by a big crowd who enjoyed the feast, music, speeches and dancing.

     By coincidence, the old Santa Fe wharf was condemned by the city trustees on the day the new wharf was opened and a few days later the old wharf was practically destroyed by a storm. The completion of the new wharf stimulated the building of the long proposed beach walk connecting the Kinney and Ryan walk with Santa Monica. The Southern Pacific began by constructing a board walk, [p. 253] 16 feet wide, in front of its property from Railroad avenue to the Crystal plunge, and the North Beach Company followed with a walk connecting this and the bath house.

     [p. 253] " . . .

     The "Ocean View," an eighteen-room hotel, was built by G.H. Strong, and was opened July 10th, with a spread: but only a few days later the new hotel was destroyed by fire. Ocean Park suffered much during its early history from fires which seemed to be, in many cases, incendiary and which were very destructive on account of the lack of fire-fighting appliances and water. A few weeks later the store of Chambers & Co. was burned with its stock of groceries. There was a long dispute over the insurance in this case and a good deal of feeling was aroused by the circumstances.

     The Methodist church began holding services in the Santa Fe depot in October, with Rev. Robert S. Fisher as pastor . . .

     " . . .

[p. 267] Chapter VII Public Institutions

Schools

      . . . [p. 267] to build a suitable building on the lots already secured at Tenth and Oregon. The contract for the building was let to H.X. Goetz and in June, 1898, the building was completed and dedicated by holding the graduating exercise for the year in it.

     " . . .

[p. 269] School Trustees of Santa Monica

1897-98: R.P. Elliot, S.F. Carpenter, F.H. Taft (Clerk).
1898-99: R.P. Elliot, S.F. Carpenter, F.H. Taft (Clerk).

     " . . .

[p. 275] Public Library

      . . . [p. 275] The growth was steadily maintained. In 1898 it became necessary to secure an additional room.

     " . . .

[p. 283] PostOffice

     . . . In May, 1898, George B. Dexter was appointed [Post Master],

     " . . .

[p. 284, 1898] Board of Trade-Chamber of Commerce-Improvement Club

     The enthusiasm of the Chamber of Commerce seems to have worn itself out in 1898. At any rate in December of that year it was proposed to organize an "Improvement Club" which it was believed would eventually make the town doubly a paradise. Frank A. Miller, then mine [sic] host of the Arcadia, was one of the moving spirits in this organization and it started out with energetic-talk. J.J. Davis was president; F.B. McComas, vice-president; F.H. Taft, secretary; Dr. P.S. Lindsey, treasurer. The executive committee included F.A. Miller, W.S, Vawter, N.A. Roth, Roy Jones, Abbot Kinney, A. Mooser, A.W. McPherson, E.P, Clark, T.H. Dudley, F.H. Rindge, L.B. Osborne. The Club made a vigorous, although unsuccessful campaign to secure lower fares to Los Angeles. It also took up the matter of liquor licenses, recommending that only six saloon licenses be issued and that the license be raised to $600. The Improvement Club did some efficient work in arousing public opinion of the saloon situation, and for three or four months, the Outlook contains long reports of its meetings-then apparently the Improvement Club went the way of the Board of Trade and Chamber of Commerce.

     " . . .

[p. 287] [Santa Monica] City Officials.

     1898,-Board of trustees, Robert F. Jones, N.A. Roth, J.J. Carrillo, Moses Hostetter, R.C. Gillis, R.F. Jones was president; clerk, J.C. Steele; treasurer, E.W. Boehme; marshal, M.K. Barretto; library trustees, S.D. Belt, J. Walter Gray, P.S. Lindsey, Fred H. Taft, T.H. Wells.

     " . . .

[p. 298] Chapter VIII Churches and Societies: Baptist Church

     In 1898, Rev. Chas. Pelley, a graduate of Charles Spurgeon's college, in London, located in Santa Monica and acted as pastor of the church until the spring of 1899, After his departure the work languished and the Sunday school died out.

[p. 298] Chapter VIII Churches and Societies: Baptist Church; Methodists

     "In 1897-98 Rev. R.C. Wuestenberg was pastor and the membership was increased to 150, while the Sunday school numbered from 250-270. In July, 1898, it was voted to remove the old church to South Santa Monica, where a mission was holding service in the old Santa Fe depot. But after some agitation the action was not taken.

     "The Methodists were granted the use of the building for their services until 1900 when they secured their own church.

 

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Ocean Park Pier opened August 28, 1898, ca. 1898

 


 

 

 


 

Ocean Park Pier opened August 28, 1898, ca. 1898
Big Pier Store; Casino Restaurant ; Ocean Park Pier
Horse and buggy ; Piers ; Restaurants ; Stores
Santa Monica Public Library Image Archives/ Source: donated to the Library 1898
Image number: D16
Big Pier Store, Groceries, 1898

 

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The Richmonds listening to their first Edison Phonograph c.1898

 

 


 

 

 

 


 

The Richmonds listening to their first Edison Phonograph c.1898 Undated photograph, probably by Alva A. Richmond, and which belonged to Mrs. W. L. Roberts (Emma Richmond). Madame X (Clara?); Charles Richmond; Emma Richmond; Fidelia Smith Richmond; Frank Richmond; Benjamin Roberts; Nellie Dodge Richmond

 

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Charles Richmond in Michigan, 1898

 

 


 

 

 


 

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Jeffrey Stanton* Founding of Ocean Park, Web Document, April 6, 1998, 1898, 1895, 1890s

     "The community was renamed Ocean Park in May 1895. The community grew slowly until there were nearly 150 cottages by Spring 1898. That year proved to be a boom year as several new business buildings and forty beach cottages were constructed. Kinney*'s new 40 acre Ocean Park race track and golf links located near their Casino Country Club at southern end of the property opened.

     "The city of Santa Monica on June 30, 1898 granted Kinney and Ryan permission to build a 1250 foot long pier at Pier Avenue on pilings already being used to carry the city's 200 foot long outfall sewer. The pier served two purposes; to protect and extend the sewage pipes seaward so the currents wouldn't pollute their property south of it, and as a pleasure wharf for tourists and fishermen. The pier was completed in less than six weeks.

     "Francis Ryan* (-1898) didn't live much longer to enjoy their success. He died unexpectedly of a heart attack in October. His widow quickly remarried and Kinney suddenly had a new partner. Thomas Dudley* was a Santa Monica businessman and politician who was elected as a Trustee the following year [1899]."

 

 

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Betty Lou Young Our First Century: The Los Angeles Athletic Club 1880-1980, LAAC Press: Los Angeles, California 1979, 176pp., 1898

     " . . . the Spanish-American War was declared in April 1898 . . . . patriotic fervor caused the cancellation of Fiesta Week and the Fourth of July parade, but the Santa Monica Road Race was run as usual . . ."

 

 

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