Venice, California

Venice, California
Neighborhood of Los Angeles
Venice Beach and Boardwalk
Venice neighborhood as delineated by the Los Angeles Times
Venice, California Location within Western Los Angeles
Coordinates: 33°59′27″N 118°27′33″W / 33.99083°N 118.45917°W / 33.99083; -118.45917
Country	United States
State	California
County	Los Angeles
City	Los Angeles
Named for	Venice, Italy
Government
• City Council	Mike Bonin (D)
• State Assembly	Betsy Butler (D)
• U.S. House	Ted Lieu (D)
• Neighborhood Council	Venice Neighborhood Council
Area
• Total	8 km2 (3.1 sq mi)
Population (2008)
• Total	40,885
• Density	4,758/km2 (12,324/sq mi)
	Population changes significantly depending on areas included and recent growth.
ZIP Code	90291
Area code(s)	310, 424

Venice is a residential, commercial and recreational beachfront neighborhood on the Westside of the Californian city of Los Angeles.

Venice was founded in 1905 as a seaside resort town. It was an independent city until 1926, when it merged with Los Angeles. Today, Venice is known for its canals, beaches, and the circus-like Ocean Front Walk, a two-and-a-half-mile pedestrian-only promenade that features performers, mystics, artists and vendors.

In 1839, a region called La Ballona that included the southern parts of Venice, was granted by the Mexican government to Machados and Talamantes, giving them title to Rancho La Ballona Later this became part of Port Ballona.

Venice, originally called "Venice of America," was founded by tobacco millionaire Abbot Kinney in 1905 as a beach resort town, 14 miles (23 km) west of Los Angeles. He and his partner Francis Ryan had bought two miles (3.24 km) of oceanfront property south of Santa Monica in 1891. They built a resort town on the north end of the property, called Ocean Park, which was soon annexed to Santa Monica. After Ryan died, Kinney and his new partners continued building south of Navy Street. After the partnership dissolved in 1904, Kinney, who had won the marshy land on the south end of the property in a coin flip with his former partners, began to build a seaside resort like the namesake Italian city took it.

When Venice of America opened on July 4, 1905, Kinney had dug several miles of canals to drain the marshes for his residential area, built a 1,200-foot (370 m)-long pleasure pier with an auditorium, ship restaurant, and dance hall, constructed a hot salt-water plunge, and built a block-long arcaded business street with Venetian architecture. Tourists, mostly arriving on the "Red Cars" of the Pacific Electric Railway from Los Angeles and Santa Monica, then rode the Venice Miniature Railway and gondolas to tour the town. But the biggest attraction was Venice's mile-long gently sloping beach. Cottages and housekeeping tents were available for rent.