C&T Publications Eye on Fine Art Photography - June 2014 | Page 9

Santa Monica, California- City on the Sea
by Cindy AckleyNunn, photos © Cindy Ackley Nunn

Santa Monica, with its famous pier, excellent beach and shopping at the Third Street Promenade and Santa Monica Place, not to
mention its close proximity to Hollywood, is a popular vacation destination. It is a perfect combination of sea, sun, strolling and
shopping. Is it any wonder that the ancient native inhabitants, the Tongva, also known as the Gabrieleño, Fernandeño, and
Nicoleño, found this to be an ideal place to settle and create a village? Of course, at that time it was not known as Santa Monica,
but was called Kecheek.
In 1769 life as they knew it changed for the Tongva people with the arrival of the party of Spanish explorer Gaspar de Portolà. Also
part of this exploration group was the Franciscan missionary Father Juan Crespi, who renamed the place San Gregorio, as
mentioned in his diary. However, the soldiers called the place "El Berendo." The current name of Santa Monica was not in use until
at least the 1820's. The group also found a spring of water used by the Tongva people, which they gave the name of “Spring of
Santa Monica.” This is most likely where the current name of the city originated. Today, this spring, which remains sacred to the
Tongva, is known again by its original name, Kuruvungna, which means "the place where we are in the sun."
In 1828 a grant of ownership was filed for this large land holding in the northern section, under the name of the Rancho Boca de
Santa Monica, and later another grant would be given in the northern section, which was called Rancho San Vicente y Santa
Monica.
In 1872 the Sepulveda family, owners of the Rancho San Vicente y Santa Monica, sold just over 38,400 acres of their land to Colonel
Robert S. Baker and his wife, Arcadia Bandini de Stearns Baker. In 1874 Senator John P. Jones of Nevada bought a half interest in
Baker's property. In 1875 Baker and Jones began what would become the City of Santa Monica, which included a wharf, a town hall
and the Los Angeles and Independence Railroad. The rest, as they say, is history.
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