> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://www.smdp.com/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # 130 candles atop Santa Monica’s cake - URL: https://www.smdp.com/130-candles-atop-santa-monicas-cake/ - Published: 2005-07-15T15:00:00.000Z - Updated: 2026-10-23T07:25:50.000Z - Author: Guest Author - Tags: Environment, Santa Monica, #archive-import *SM at 130: From ranchlands to tour buses* Zamoyski paid $500\. During a land auction that day, Harris Newmark, a prominent Jewish wool merchant from Los Angeles — one of many who bought property along what is now one of the most sought-after streets on the westside — bought five lots on Ocean Avenue for $300 apiece. By the end of the day, the crowd had spent a total of $40,000 on nearly a dozen lots. While there are no lots or single-family homes on Ocean Avenue today, a condominium there commands between $2 million and $3 million, according to Karen Acoca at ERA First Choice Realty. Lots near Ocean Avenue are valued at well over $3 million. By 1876, more than a thousand people lived in Santa Monica. However, four years later, the population plummeted to 417 after the shipping wharf shut down in 1877, according to the recently published “Santa Monica: A History on the Edge,” written Paula A. Scott. Today, Santa Monica’s population hovers around 86,000\. However, with tourism and commerce, the daily population swells to between 250,000 and 400,000 people within its eight square miles. Known now as a mecca for tourism, celebrities, the entertainment industry and some of the most expensive real estate in the country, Santa Monica’s roots were a bit more down to earth. In the early 1870s, Santa Monica was a visionary site for the city’s two founders, who desired to turn cattle ranchlands into a major seaport and city, with a railroad that would bridge the gap between Los Angeles and Santa Monica, and a wharf that would be equipped to handle seagoing traffic from large vessels, according to historians. Tuesday’s City Council meeting served as the kick-off to a year-long celebration in honor of Santa Monica’s 130th birthday. There will be reminders to Santa Monicans throughout the year, such as postings within organizations and businesses. The Santa Monica Historical Society is planning birthday events to be held until the city’s birthday in 2006. A third-grade class at Roosevelt Elementary School recently produced an exhibition at the historical society museum, entitled “TOQ’S (AKA Teen Outstanding Quality) Santa Monica Timeline,” highlighting Santa Monica’s changes and architectural developments from 1875 to 2000, including a Japanese fishing village near Santa Monica Canyon, City Hall and the Santa Monica Public Library. The exhibition runs through the end of the month. “The 130th birthday is a milestone,” said Louise Gabriel, president of the Santa Monica Historical Society Museum. “Santa Monica has come a long way from a little town to a big city. The co-founders did an excellent job of laying out the town and placing the streets. They generously donated land for churches, schools, parks, organizations and hospitals,” The founding of the city is attributed to Sen. John P. Jones and Colonel Robert S. Baker, who worked together to lay out the town’s limits and register it as the Township of Santa Monica in 1875, with boundaries at 26th Street to the northeast, Railroad Avenue, which was later renamed Colorado Avenue on the southeast, Montana Avenue to the northwest and the Pacific Ocean to the southwest. Most of Santa Monica’s residents in the mid-1870s lived in tents and quickly-constructed houses, with more pouring in daily due to the newly developed Los Angeles and Independence Railroad. Those residents witnessed the official incorporation of the city in November 1886, and the first ordinances passed in 1887, which said that keeping a disorderly house or engaging in disorderly conduct would result in a fine or time in jail. Grover Cleveland was president of the United States. As the years passed, the initial board of trustees gave way to a City Council government format under the first charter, ratified in January 1907\. Under the new charter, the City Council was comprised of one mayor with veto power, and one councilmember from each of Santa Monica’s seven wards. This charter required weekly meetings, for which councilmembers received $5\. The meetings were set not to exceed one per week. Now, Santa Monica operates under a city manager style of government in which the seven city councilmembers are elected from throughout the city and the mayor has no veto power — a result of an update to the city charter in 1947\. Today, city council members make $750 a month, and between $30 and $50 for other meetings that involve the redevelopment agency, the housing authority and parking. Politics were not the only aspects that evolved. Many of the buildings and monuments that are familiar to Santa Monicans today were built in the early 1900s. A signature of the city, the Santa Monica Pier, was first built in 1909, with the national landmark carousel to follow in 1916\. The oldest theater in Santa Monica, the Mayfair Theater located on Santa Monica Boulevard, was built in 1912\. It has been shut down since the Northridge Earthquake in 1994\. Also in 1912, construction of Santa Monica High School began. Santa Monica Junior College was established in 1929 with an enrollment of 153 people, located on the second floor of the high school. “I’ve seen tremendous changes,” said Ysidro Reyes, 93, a descendent of the original owners of what was formerly known as Rancho Boca de Santa Monica, property that was later sold to Col. Baker. “I was born here in 1911 at 11th Street and Wilshire Boulevard. There were three houses on the block. “Now that’s history.” ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/55/9f/559f9abc-8372-4a2e-8c2d-27386da4e363/content/images/2026/10/071505-06_01.jpg) (Photo: Ryan Hyatt/Daily Press) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/55/9f/559f9abc-8372-4a2e-8c2d-27386da4e363/content/images/2026/10/071505-06_02.jpg) of Santa Monica Historical Society Museum/Outlook Collection THE SANDS OF TIME: (Left) The Santa Monica Pier and Pacific Coast Highway as they appeared from the bluffs, circa 1920\. (Photo: Photo courtesy) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/55/9f/559f9abc-8372-4a2e-8c2d-27386da4e363/content/images/2026/10/071505-06_03.jpg) of Santa Monica Historical Society Museum/Outlook Collection THE SANDS OF TIME: (Left) The Santa Monica Pier and Pacific Coast Highway as they appeared from the bluffs, circa 1920\. (Photo: Photo courtesy) *Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on July 15, 2005.* [Read the original PDF.](https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/smdp%5Fbackissues/071505.pdf?ref=smdp.com)