Editing Santa Monica, California (section)

===Post-conquest era===
[[File:Portrait of Mrs. Arcadia de Bandini, ca.1885 (CHS-2918) (cropped).jpg|thumb|left|upright|[[Arcadia Bandini de Stearns Baker|Arcadia Bandini de Baker]], a prominent [[Californio]] heiress, is known as the "Godmother of Santa Monica" for her role in founding the city.<ref>[https://smmirror.com/2022/06/former-home-of-the-godmother-of-santa-monica-up-for-sale/ Santa Monica Mirror - Former Home of the 'Godmother of Santa Monica' up for Sale]</ref>]]
After the [[Conquest of California|American conquest of California]], Mexico signed the [[Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo]], which gave Mexicans and Californios living in state certain unalienable rights. U.S. government sovereignty in California began on February 2, 1848.

In the 1870s, the [[Los Angeles and Independence Railroad]] connected Santa Monica with Los Angeles, and a wharf out into the bay. The first town hall was an 1873 brick building, later a beer hall, and now part of the Santa Monica [[Hostel]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Santa Monica History Spotlight: The Rapp Saloon |url=https://www.santamonica.gov/blog/santa-monica-history-spotlight-the-rapp-saloon |access-date=2024-06-15 |website=www.santamonica.gov |language=en-US}}</ref> By 1885, the town's first hotel was the Santa Monica Hotel.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://waterandpower.org/museum/Early_Views_of_Santa_Monica.html|title=Water and Power Associates|website=waterandpower.org|access-date=December 8, 2017|archive-date=December 8, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171208175032/http://waterandpower.org/museum/Early_Views_of_Santa_Monica.html|url-status=live}}</ref>

Amusement piers became popular in the first decades of the 20th century and the extensive [[Pacific Electric Railway]] brought people to the city's beaches from across the [[Greater Los Angeles Area]].

Around the start of the 20th century, a growing population of [[Asian American]]s lived in and around Santa Monica and Venice. A [[Japanese people|Japanese]] fishing village was near the Long Wharf while small numbers of [[Chinese people|Chinese]] lived or worked in Santa Monica and Venice. The two ethnic minorities were often viewed differently by White Americans, who were often well-disposed toward the Japanese but condescending to the Chinese.<ref name="Fogelson1993">{{cite book|last=Fogelson|first=Robert M.|title=The fragmented metropolis: Los Angeles, 1850–1930|url=https://archive.org/details/fragmentedmetrop0000foge_l1o1|url-access=limited|year=1993|publisher=University of California Press|location=Berkeley|isbn=978-0-520-08230-4|page=[https://archive.org/details/fragmentedmetrop0000foge_l1o1/page/200 200]}}</ref> The Japanese village fishermen were an integral economic part of the Santa Monica Bay community.<ref>Mark McIntire, {{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20130803031619/http://www.virtualvenice.info/print/1914-1916pt5.htm Minorities and Racism]}}, ''Free Venice Beachhead'' #126, June 1980.</ref>
[[File:Bath house and beach, Ocean Park, California (15301642599) (cropped).jpg|thumb|left|[[Ocean Park (Santa Monica)|Ocean Park]] bathhouse, {{Circa|1907}}]]
[[Donald Wills Douglas Sr.]] built a plant in 1922 at Clover Field ([[Santa Monica Airport]]) for the [[Douglas Aircraft Company]].<ref>Parker, Dana T. ''Building Victory: Aircraft Manufacturing in the Los Angeles Area in World War II,'' pp. 13–24, Cypress, CA, 2013. {{ISBN|978-0-9897906-0-4}}.</ref> In 1924, four Douglas-built planes took off from Clover Field to attempt the first aerial circumnavigation of the world. Two planes returned after covering {{convert|27553| miles|km }} in 175 days, and were greeted on their return September 23, 1924, by a crowd of 200,000. The Douglas Company (later [[McDonnell Douglas]]) kept facilities in the city until the 1970s.<ref>{{cite web|title=Santa Monica Airport (SMO) History SMO: Santa Monica Municipal Airport|url=https://www.smgov.net/departments/airport/history.aspx|access-date=May 17, 2021|website=www.smgov.net|archive-date=May 17, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210517235906/https://www.smgov.net/departments/airport/history.aspx|url-status=live}}</ref>

The [[Great Depression]] hit Santa Monica deeply. One report gives citywide employment in 1933 of just 1,000. Hotels and office building owners went bankrupt. In the 1930s, corruption infected Santa Monica (along with neighboring [[Los Angeles]]). The federal [[Works Project Administration]] helped build several buildings, most notably City Hall. The main [[Post Office]] and Barnum Hall ([[Santa Monica High School]] auditorium) were also among other WPA projects.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Scott|first=Paula A.|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rSE_tBhPNWIC&q=The+main+Post+Office+and+Barnum+Hall+(Santa+Monica+High+School+auditorium)+were+also+among+other+WPA+projects&pg=PT167|title=Santa Monica: A History on the Edge|date=October 13, 2004|publisher=Arcadia Publishing|isbn=978-1-4396-3061-7|language=en|access-date=September 27, 2021|archive-date=February 11, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220211022110/https://books.google.com/books?id=rSE_tBhPNWIC&q=The+main+Post+Office+and+Barnum+Hall+%28Santa+Monica+High+School+auditorium%29+were+also+among+other+WPA+projects&pg=PT167|url-status=live}}</ref>