In Like Cyn – Season 1 Episode 24 Ocean Park Sunset

“Hey everybody! Here it is! The season 1 finale of In Like Cyn the selfie reality show that takes you on the ride of my life. In this episode you will learn some history that is near and dear to my heart – and learn a little bit more of what ocean life was like at the start of the last century” – Cynthia Troyer

In Like Cyn – Season 1 Episode 24

Ocean Park Sunset

Published to YouTube July 16, 2015

IN LIKE CYN – SEASON 1 – EPISODE 24

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EPISODE TRANSCRIPTION

In Like Cyn – Season 1 Episode 24

Ocean Park Sunset

Published to Youtube July 16, 2015

[Cyn: Cynthia Troyer]

Cyn: Hello, hello and welcome to another episode of In Like Cyn.

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Cyn: And today we are here at Ocean Park Beach.

TITLE: Cynthia Troyer, screenwriter

Cyn: Behind me – the sun is starting to make its magical descent into the ocean.

Cyn VO: After work, I jumped in my car and headed to the west side –

TITLE: Ocean Park Sunset

Cyn VO: – to get there in time for the sunset. To fully understand the history of Ocean Park, we start in 1875. George Merritt Jones, an industrialist, builds the Los Angeles and Independence Railroad. Santa Monica and LA were finally connected. He also builds a wharf 1,740 feet into the bay.

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Cyn VO: A few years later Abbott Kinney, a wealthy manufacturer of cigarettes, decided this area of South Santa Monica, known as the township of La Ballona, would be the perfect place to build a summer resort for physical and intellectual renewal. He builds the first pleasure pier and boardwalk along with a golf course and horseracing track.

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Cyn VO: Soon after the Crystal Springs bathhouse and Plunge built a pier near Pico Boulevard. It was easy to spot because of the red roofed Rendezvous Ballroom. And it also had the Nate Goodwin Café. A place where Charlie Chaplin and Mary Pickford hung out. In 1895 Abbott Kinney renamed the area – Ocean Park!

Cyn VO: In 1903, Kinney’s partners built a casino and in January of the next year Kinney meets with Gage, Fraser and Merritt Jones to dissolve Ocean Park Development Company. After winning the coin toss, Abbott Kinney chooses the undeveloped marshy property to the south with big ideas of building “Venice of America.”

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Cyn VO: With Kinney out of their hair, his former partners go wild. Fraser builds a lavish Bathhouse and the Decatur Hotel — the oceanfront begins to take on a metropolitan aspect.

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Cyn VO: In 1905, the Ocean Park Pier is built. It becomes known as the playground of the west. This promenade consisted of casinos, cafes, and game parlors. In 1907, Ocean Park is split in two and half is absorbed by Santa Monica, and half by Venice. But more piers continue to pop up – Kinney’s Pier is built. The Horseshoe Pier is built. And a few years later Fraser’s Million Dollar Pier – which incorporated the old Horseshoe Pier – at 1,250 feet long and 300 feet wide – it’s the largest amusement pier in the world.

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Cyn: So everybody who comes to Southern California – they come here – to the beach. But, where we’re at right now up that way is Santa Monica – and down that way behind us is Venice Beach.

Cyn VO: Five years later, in 1912, Fraser’s Million Dollar Pier burns but he rebuilds what he believes to be a fireproof pier, in 1913. And it becomes known as the Pickering Pier.

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Cyn VO: There’s still a little more story to tell, but isn’t it amazing that they fit all that in this space – and there’s nothing here now.

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Cyn VO: In 1915, the Ocean Park Pier succumbs to the same fate as all the other piers before it – it burned. Lick’s Dome Pier was built in 1922, located at the foot of Navy Street – so close to the Pickering Pier, they seemed as if they were one. Lick’s was known for the BonTon Ballroom – later to be renamed the Aragon. Dance Marathons (also called Walkathons), were an American phenomenon of the 1920s. They were human endurance contests in which couples danced almost non-stop for hundreds of hours (as long as a month or two), competing for prize money.

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Cyn VO: In 1928 downtown Los Angeles banned Marathon Dancing and Ocean Park became the place to come to dance. In 1920 the Pickering Pier was doubled in size, and the Abbott Kinney pier burned in a fire. January 6, 1924 – what is known as the Sunday morning pier fire, a fire that started in the Ritz Café kitchen destroyed both the Pickering and the Lick’s Pier. It was never fully explained how the fire spread so quickly, some thought the rubbish beneath the pier was set ablaze. The Lick’s Pier was immediately rebuilt. But the Pickering Pier was never rebuilt. And even more Piers were built. The Sunset Pier. The Venice Pier. And Venice of America.

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Cyn VO: The Sunset Pier was seized in a bankruptcy in 1929. 1930 to 1935 was a dead zone as everyone dealt with The Depression. In 1951, Lawrence Welk was hired to increase the crowds. Through the years the landscape of piers kept changing.

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Cyn VO: In 1957 they began to convert Ocean Park Pier into the POP or Pacific Ocean Park. And it opened in 1958. The Lawrence Welk Show was broadcast from Pacific Ocean Park Pier. The last of the Ocean Park Piers, Pacific Ocean Park was forced into bankruptcy in 1967. The abandoned pier succumb to fire in 1970. The remnants of the pier were demolished in 1974. And that my friends, is the saga of Ocean Park. The rich history of this area makes it hands down my favorite beach in LA.

Cyn: Gorgeous! Alright I want to say thank you to everybody who’ve been here through the whole season. This is Episode 24, the end of Season 1. And don’t forget to come back for Season 2, this is the end of season 1. For all of you who’ve been here. [BLOWS KISS]. Thank you for watching my show. Thanks for watching the sunset with me. Thank you, everybody. Tune in next season!

AMISH BUDDHA FILMWORKS!

OUTRO

Cyn: Hey everybody. Thanks for watching the video. Subscribe! All the social media links here are down below. Click subscribe! Look for a new In Like Cyn every Thursday!