Dear Friend of Venice, When Abbot Kinney officially introduced the world to Venice-of-America in 1905 he did it in style.  Across Windward Avenue at Pacific (then Trolley Way), 3-foot high letters glowed to electric life and spelled out the place to be on that 4th of July - in VENICE.  Historic Windward Avenue with its Italianate architecture and colonnade began life as the entrance to the wonderful...more

Description: "About 75 Years Ago on Rancho La Ballona" This aerial photo courtesy of family historian Fred Machado shows the intersection of Jefferson and Centinela (view is East).  The Machado family dates back in this area to 1819 when the Mexican government granted his ancestors grazing rights to the Rancho.  Fred was born on his grandfather's farm (A) which was built...more

A VENICE HISTORY LESSON ON THE TOWNHOUSE. Most locals remember Frank Bennett running the Townhouse for years. The new owner, Louie Ryan has fully restored the basement of the Townhouse Bar which was an actual Speakeasy during prohibition. Ships brought liquor down from Canada which anchored off shore and then smuggled the booze through secret tunnels under the streets of Venice.   Click here to view video or...more

Caption:  "40 Years Ago On The Venice Canals" This press photo from 1971 shows the canal clean-up gang as they pole along through their daily routine.  Stagnant and debris filled with crumbling banks, the remaining Southern canals were something far from their current manicured & desirable glory.  It was about this time that street poet Claire Horner deemed Venice,...more

"THE VENICE - VEGAS CONNECTION" Years before "Bugsy" Siegel built The Flamingo (a nickname for his twist Virginia Hill thanks to her long gams) there was another wiseguy more deserving of the credit for creating the modern Las Vegas.  His name was Tony "The Hat" Cornero and he knew Venice well.  Tony ran so many Prohibition-era booze cruisers to Southern...more

DID YOU KNOW? Venice used to have its very own professional baseball team.  The mighty Venice Tigers played a whopping total of 2 seasons from 1913-14.  A new field and stadium was installed at the SW corner of Venice and Abbot Kinney Blvd. but the endeavor proved a financial failure.  The cigarette card shows the typical uniform style in...more

Happy Black Friday, Venetians! --------------- Did you know that today, Nov. 26. 1941, Franklin D. Roosevelt established the fourth Thursday in November as the official modern Thanksgiving holiday.  Well, now you do. As well, on this day in 1922 archaeologists entered King Tuts tomb.  And, lastly, and for good reason, MTV unplugged  premiered today in 1989.  And that is your VP history lesson for today.  See ya! Alex. --------------- Is...more

Hello Venice, today, Dec. 1 in history: Today was the day that Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat on the bus. And, is also Pablo Escobar’s birthday.  Also, it was Dec. 1st that Henry Ford’s assembly line started rolling, forever changing manufacturing. Furthermore, it was today in 1990 that the tunnel that connects Britain with France, and effectively, the rest of mainland Europe,...more

Hello Venice, today Nov. 30. in history:  today in 1993 Bill Clinton signed the Brady Bill, ordering background checks on handgun buyers, into law. Also, it is Mark Twain’s birthday. And, Evil Kneivel died today in 2007.  And happening today:  the Wikileaks website, responsible for leaking hundreds of thousands of U.S. Govt. classified documents, is under cyber attack and is unavailable to users.  Anyone have...more

Hello Venice, on this day in history: in 1929 Navy Lt. Cmdr. Richard E. Byrd radioed that he'd made the first airplane flight over the South Pole.  Also, in 2001 George Harrison died.  In the news today, in Pakistan a Christian mother of five has been sentenced to death for allegedly insulting the prophet Mohammed.  Also, Iran has blamed Israel for the death of one...more