Los Angeles herald., 1890-07-13
A NEW DEAL OF PROSPERITY FOR
SANTA MONICA.

7 oSSO under cloud 1Or long time, DuC
it is pleasant to know that it is at last
to be lifted. We learn, on quite reliable
authority. that the Southern Pacific
Railway Company is at length to build
wharf at that place, and that much OF
the business of the lower coast will be
transacted there. Orders for the ma
terial of the new structure have already
gone forward, and the work will be
entered upon with expedition, and pros
ecuted with the customary energy of
the Southern Pacific Railway Company.
The new wharf will be on an extensive
scale, and will undoubtedly be the
theater of an immense business. The
determination to erect it was reached
during the recent visit of Mr.. Coils p.
Huntington, Col. Crocker, Mr.. Stubbs
and other high officials of the Southern
Pacific railway to Los Angeles. The
idea is understood to- have been cham
pioned with great warmth by Mr..
Stubbs, and by our late townsman, Mr..
G. F. Smurr, whose knowledge of the
topography and transportation needs Of
this section is surpassed by that
of few persons in the employ
ment of the Southern Pacific
railway, or of any other corporation.
Extensive preparations for the reception
of freight will pe made, involving great
additions to the space already devoted
by the company to it's business at that
,o;n+ Tor Soma tir,o roct tho trapLr Of
the Santa Monica branch has been
undergoing remodeling, in contemplation
of the new departure outlined in this
article. 1t has been laid with the heav-
lest steel rails known on any system OF
road and, when the time comes, it will
be readily seen that great speed can be
made with passenger trains, while
freight can be handled in any quantity
desired.
Doubtless leading factor in the new
development has been the building of a
wharf at Redondo Beach, with two rail-
ways available at that point for the
transportation of passengers and freight
to Los Angeles, viz, the Santa Fe and
the narrow gauge Redondo Beach roads.
The Southern Pacific people have at last
realized the fact that Santa Monica is
the nearest point with good roadstead
reached by vessels coming south from
San Francisco. Their calculation is that
the passenger coming south from
any northern point will be able
to get off at the Santa Monies
wharf, hurry on to the cars, and treat
himself to a bath and breakfast, and
be ready for business, before he can
reach the city by Redondo, and that he
can save practically whole day before
the voyageur via San Pedro can reach
his hotel in the Angelic city. That
there is considerable force in this sup
position, which applies to freight as
we'll, with obvious variations, cannot be
denied. With the extensive ramiica-
tions of the Southern Pacific, with a
good wharf at Santa Monica, and the
ramifcations, equally great, of the Santa
Fe system, we may well look for large
and growing business at those ports
The former company is also said to con-
template the importing OF its coal by
way of "the city by the sea-"
There is an interesting history con-
nected with Santa Monica with which
many of our new comers are not
familiar. Somewhere during the fall
and winter of 1874 Senator John P.
Jones, of Nevada, conceived the idea of
investing some of his surplus millions,
accruing from the Crown Point bonanza,
in Los Angeles county, which was then
in its transition from one of the "cow
countless" lump designation which
was then applied to the whole of South
ern California by San Franciscans and
the inhabitants of the northern and
central counties. Part of his plan of
improvement in this section involved
the building OF railway from the ocean
to Panamint. He began his outlays by
the purchase of three-quarters interest
in the San Vicente y Santa Monica
rancho, and sthe building of wharf at
the place which has since been known
by the latter name. OF course, part of
the plan embraced townsite.
1 Work at once began on the Los An
geles branch of the Los Angeles and In
dependence railway. The wharf was
duly built, and in July, 1875, the steamer
from San Francisco landed at the pleas
ant bluff upon which the town was built,
and the auction sale of lots was great
success. The place was doomed by the
celebrated "silver-tongued" Hon. Tom
Fitch, of Nevada, and everything went
merrily as marriage bells. Santa Mon
lea grew with great rapidity, and there
was apparently no disaster ahead for the
"city by the sea-" as Fitch had fondly
named it.
Then came the failure OF the Bank o1
California, followed by the collapse ol
the bank OF Temple & Workman, in this
city. The Panamint and Kernville spec
ulations of Senator Jones did not prove
to be the mines of wealth that had been
expected by him; and the Nevada sen
ator, after building his road to Los An
geles, found it expedient to transfer it te
the Southern Pacific, and it then became
known as the Santa Monica branch O.
that system. Then came a very
| II Mo,,ioo hf