Venise

1909 · Best.-Nr. 53224 — Venice & Los Angeles CA: Abbot Kinney Co. Nov. 20 1909. One large silver gelatin photo sized 7.5 x 9.25 in. mounted on thin gray studio board sized 10.5 x 13.5 in. block lettering on verso referring to date and indicating it was sent by the Abbot Kinney Co. minor creasing to image very slight minor scuffing still a VG- image with strong bright contrast. An exceedingly scarce original promotional photo for the Aquarium & Museum built at the end of Abbott Kinney’s famed amusement pier and patronized by visitors on the Balloon Route Excursion train operated by the Los Angeles Pacific Railroad Electric Railway Co. The Venice Aquarium was opened in January 1909 on Kinney’s Pier and featured some of the finest marine specimens of any private or public Aquarium on the West Coast. A fish hatchery and sea lions were located in the rear of the aquarium. The aquarium later became the official marine biological station for the University of Southern California. Unfortunately in 1920 a month after the death of Kinney the entire pier was destroyed in a fire including the popular aquarium. See: Loomis Westside Chronicles: Historic Studies of West Los Angeles 2012; Westland Network Venice History Part 3 2009. Abbot Kinney Co., unknown