MAN: SOME OF LOST LA LITERALLY LIES BURIED BENEATH OUR FEET, HIDDEN LONG AGO WHEN THE CITY, FINDING THE SHAPE AND CHARACTER OF ITS LAND WANTING, OPTED TO MOLD IT TO ITS NEEDS.

IN THIS EPISODE, "LOST LA" EXPLORES HOW THE MODERN METROPOLIS HAS RESHAPED ITS OWN TOPOGRAPHY.

WE'LL VISIT DARK, ABANDONED TUNNELS; BULLDOZED HILLTOPS; AND PAVED-OVER CANALS.

MUCH OF LOS ANGELES' PAST IS LOST TO HISTORY.

LANDMARKS THAT ONCE GRACED SOUVENIR POSTCARDS-- VANISHED.

HISTORIC BUILDINGS AND EVEN ENTIRE NEIGHBORHOODS-- BULLDOZED IN THE NAME OF PROGRESS.

AND IT'S NOT JUST PLACES WE'VE LOST, IT'S LANGUAGES, TRADITIONS... PEOPLE, TOO.

COMMUNITIES CONQUERED, AND, IN THEIR CONQUEST, WHITEWASHED.

BUT THERE'S ONE PLACE WE CAN REDISCOVER THESE LOST STORIES-- THE ARCHIVES.

"LOST LA" EXPLORES SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA HISTORY BY BRINGING THESE ARCHIVAL MATERIALS TO LIFE.

HI.

I'M NATHAN MASTERS AND THIS IS "LOST LA."

DEEP UNDERNEATH THE BUSY STREETS OF DOWNTOWN LOS ANGELES LIE ABANDONED TUNNELS--DARK, FORGOTTEN PASSAGEWAYS THROUGH WHICH COUNTLESS ANGELENOS ONCE PASSED.

POLICE OFFICERS ESCORTING CRIMINALS FROM COURTROOMS TO JAIL CELLS, BOOTLEGGERS SMUGGLING WHISKEY INTO SPEAKEASIES, COMMUTERS ON THE CITY'S FIRST SUBWAY.

IN THIS SEGMENT, FILMMAKERS MATT GLASS AND JORDAN WAYNE LONG TAKE US INTO LA'S SECRET SUBTERRANEAN SPACES AND SHOW US THAT NOT JUST BEAUTY BUT ALSO THE MEANING OF HISTORIC PLACES LIKE THESE TUNNELS OFTEN LIES IN THE EYE OF THE BEHOLDER.

MAN: WHEN I WAS GROWING UP, THE ELECTRIC STREETCAR LINES WERE GOING AWAY.

WE WOULD DRIVE AROUND THE CITY AND I WOULD SEE TRACKS IN THE STREET OR A WIRE IN THE SKY AND I SAID, "WHAT'S THAT?

WHY ARE THEY THERE?

WHEN IS THE TRAIN COMING?"

THERE WERE ALL THESE KIND OF AMBIGUOUS ANSWERS.

"WELL, THERE IS NO MORE TRAIN."

[DOOR SQUEAKS, CREAKS] MAN 2: 99% OF THE MATERIAL IN THE VAULT, IT'S NOT DIGITIZED.

IT STILL EXISTS AND ONLY EXISTS ON PAPER.

IF WE STARTED TOMORROW, YEAH, I COULD TAKE THE NEXT 20 YEARS AND MAYBE GET A GOOD CHUNK OF THE STUFF IN THE VAULT, BUT THERE'S JUST TOO MUCH MATERIAL.

TUNNELS ARE A VERY LONG TRADITION IN THE CITY.

WE WOULD BUILD THESE THINGS.

WE WOULD REINVENT THEM SOMEHOW AND START ALL OVER AGAIN.

THESE ARE ABOUT--ABOUT 8,000, 9,000 PHOTOGRAPHS LIKE THIS.

THEY WERE NEVER MEANT TO BE SHOWN.

NEVER MEANT TO BE SEEN.

NOW, ON JUNE 21, 1937, THIS PICTURE WAS TAKEN.

YOU KNOW, YOU LOOK AND YOU SEE HOW THIS IS ALL UNDEVELOPED BACK THEN.

IT DOESN'T LOOK LIKE THAT NOW.

NONE OF THIS RIGHT HERE.

IT'S COMPLETELY CHANGED.

MAN 3: I WOULDN'T BE DOING THESE THINGS IF I WASN'T TAKING PHOTOS.

IT'S LIKE A REASON TO, LIKE, EXPLORE.

I'VE BEEN DOING THIS FOR ABOUT TWO YEARS.

I REALLY LIKE EXPLORING ABANDONED PLACES AND LOOKING FOR NEW, LIKE, SHOTS, I GUESS.

MAN 4: AND THIS WAS THE LOBBY FLOOR.

YOU'D GO DOWN THE RAMP DOWN INTO THE SUBWAY.

IT'S ONLY BEEN 60 YEARS SINCE I WAS HERE, SO, IT'S A LITTLE BIT--LITTLE BIT CONFUSING.

I MEAN--OH.

NOW, THAT RAMP LOOKS FAMILIAR.

I'VE RIDDEN PUBLIC TRANSIT ALL MY LIFE.

I'M 83 YEARS OLD AND I STARTED RIDING PUBLIC TRANSIT WHEN I WAS ABOUT 13.

STILL RIDE IT.

I CAME DOWN TODAY ON A RED LINE AND A GOLD LINE.

[INDISTINCT VOICE ON P.A.]

SALDANO: WHEN I GO IN THE RED LINE, I USUALLY PUT MY HEADPHONES ON.

THERE'S JUST, LIKE, WEIRD PEOPLE IN THE METRO.

LIKE, PEOPLE TALKING TO THEMSELVES AND, LIKE, JUST HOPEFULLY, LIKE, TAKE THEM OFF AT THE TIME WHERE I HEAR MY STOP GETTING OFF, SO, I DON'T MISS IT.

MAN: WELL, THE HISTORY OF THE SUBWAY TUNNEL GOES BACK, ACTUALLY, TO THE TURN OF THE LAST CENTURY.

WEEKS: BUILT IN 1925.

QUITE A PROJECT.

THEY BUILT THE WHOLE BUILDING AND THE SUBWAY AT THE SAME TIME.

MAN: YEAH, THIS--THIS WILL TELL YOU WHICH TRAIN NUMBER.

I SET THE CARDS IN HERE, AND THEN THEY TURN IT AROUND AND PEOPLE IN THE LOBBY AREA CAN SEE THE DAILY TRAIN SETUP.

SALDANO: I FEEL LIKE IF I LOOK UP THE HISTORY, IT'LL RUIN THE SURPRISE FOR ME.

I LIKE GOING THERE AND BEING TOTALLY AMAZED BY THE TUNNEL AND LET THE LOCATION JUST TELL ME WHAT THE HISTORY IS.

THAT'S TOTALLY DIFFERENT THAN SEEING IT ON PAPER.

TOTALLY DIFFERENT.

HOLLAND: THERE'S MORE THAN ONE TYPE OF HISTORY, YOU KNOW, IN LA, ANYWAY.

IF YOU DON'T LIKE THIS ONE, YOU FIND ANOTHER ONE.

YOU KNOW, AND I THINK THAT'S THE BOTTOM LINE IS, YOU KNOW, YOU'LL FIND WHATEVER KIND OF HISTORY YOU WANT IN THIS CITY.

WEEKS: SEE, THE TRACKS CAME ALONG BETWEEN THE COLUMNS AND THERE WERE PLATFORMS BETWEEN THE TRACKS.

LONG PLATFORMS WHERE PEOPLE COULD BOARD THE CAR.

SALDANO: THE OLDER THE THINGS ARE, THE MORE PEOPLE HAVE, LIKE, BEEN IN THAT LOCATION.

THINKING ABOUT, LIKE, WHAT THEY DID IN THAT LOCATION.

WHAT THEY THOUGHT.

WEEKS: I RODE THE LAST CAR ON THE VENICE SHORT LINE IN 1950 AND MANY, MANY OTHER LAST CARS.

I CAN STILL REMEMBER THE LAST TRAIN COMING BACK FROM VENICE SHORT LINE.

WHEN IT CAME UP, IT PULLED IN--IT PULLED IN BESIDE THE BUILDING AND TIED UP HERE.

FOR THE LAST TIME.

CRISE: FOR MANY YEARS, MANY, MANY YEARS, IT JUST SAT ABANDONED, IDLE, NOTHING.

WEEKS: TRACKS 3 AND 4 ARE STILL UP THERE.

HOW ABOUT THAT?

HOLLAND: THE COST.

YOU KNOW, THE BENEFIT WASN'T--WASN'T JUSTIFIED BY WHATEVER IT WAS THAT THEY HAD TO DO TO DO IT RIGHT, I GUESS.

CRISE: IT'S THERE.

YOU JUST CAN'T GET TO IT.

WEEKS: BOY, LOOK AT THE-- LOOK AT THE TOWER.

STILL THERE.

IT WAS CONCRETE.

IT STILL-- IT SHOULD BE THERE.

THERE'S THE TUNNEL.

CRISE: THIS WAS A BUSY PLACE.

WEEKS: YEAH.

CRISE: IT WAS A DIFFERENT TIME WHEN THEY WERE BUILDING THIS SYSTEM.

BECAUSE LA IS SO SPREAD OUT, AND WE DON'T REALLY THINK ABOUT GOING UNDERGROUND.

IT'S ALL UP HERE.

SALDANO: IT'S, LIKE, REALLY THRILLING.

IF ANYTHING HAPPENED, YOU KNOW, NOW, WHAT'S GONNA HAPPEN NEXT?

JUST KIND OF GET YOUR OWN FUTURE.

HOLLAND: YOU CAN TAKE SOMETHING LIKE TUNNELS THAT MAYBE HAS A VERY SMALL APPEAL, AND YOU CAN FIND A DOZEN WAYS TO SPIN IT, BECAUSE THERE ARE SO MANY SOURCES OUT HERE.

AND I KIND OF THINK THAT MAKES US UNIQUE.

MASTERS: HISTORY CAN BE BURIED, AND IT CAN ALSO BE ERASED.

EVEN SOMETHING AS SEEMINGLY PERMANENT AND IMMOVABLE AS A MOUNTAIN CAN, WITH THE AID OF MODERN INDUSTRIAL EQUIPMENT, DISAPPEAR.

IN ITS CONTINUAL QUEST TO REINVENT ITSELF, LOS ANGELES NOT ONLY BULLDOZED BUILDINGS, IT BULLDOZED THE HILLS THEY ONCE STOOD ON, TOO.

BUNKER HILL, NORMAL HILL, POUNDCAKE HILL, FORT MOORE HILL ONCE HELD LA'S MOST IMPORTANT CIVIC STRUCTURES HIGH ABOVE THE CITY.

THEIR SLOPES WERE ONCE SCALED BY STAIRCASES AND FUNICULARS, BUT MERE TRACES OF THEM SURVIVE TODAY.

IN THIS SEGMENT, DIRECTOR KELLY PARKER RECONSTRUCTS THESE LOST HILLS OF DOWNTOWN LOS ANGELES AND THE STORIES OF THE PEOPLE AND PLACES THAT ONCE CALLED THEM HOME.

MAN: WHEN YOU SEVER HISTORY FROM PLACE, SOMETHING'S LOST.

MAN 2: WE'RE CROSSING THIRD STREET NOW.

THERE'S THE LOVEJOY.

THERE'S THE NUGENT.

THERE'S THE DELICATESSEN.

THERE'S THE ANGELS FLIGHT PHARMACY.

THERE'S 301 THAT MY GRANDMOTHER TURNED INTO A ROOMING HOUSE.

WE'RE GONNA CROSS IN A MINUTE SOUTH BUNKER HILL AVENUE, WHICH IS THE STREET I LIVED ON.

RIGHT THERE.

THAT'S SOUTH BUNKER HILL AVENUE.

BEAUTIFUL, OLD BUILDINGS.

MAN 3: WHAT IS IT THAT'S GENERATING MEMORY?

IT'S USUALLY THINGS THAT WERE ERASED, HALF-FINISHED, SPACES THAT WERE CONTESTED, THE WAY SOMETHING WAS OCCUPIED, THE WAY THE WINDOWS ARE DRESSED.

BUT IF YOU COME TO IT AFTER IT'S BEEN DESTROYED, OF COURSE, YOU HAVE ONLY THE TRACES THAT ARE LEFT ON THE STREETS, AND IF THE TRACES HAVE BEEN REALLY LEVELED, YOU HAVE THIS VERY PECULIAR RELATIONSHIP TO IT.

YOU CAN'T EVEN BELIEVE WHAT'S HAPPENED.

MAN 4: A FEW YEARS AGO, A THOUGHT OCCURRED TO ME THAT I WAS PROBABLY ONE OF THE LAST PEOPLE IN LOS ANGELES THAT NOT ONLY REMEMBERED OLD BUNKER HILL BUT ACTUALLY LIVED UP THERE.

BEFORE TOO MANY MORE YEARS PASS, THESE MEMORIES WILL NO LONGER BE PART OF THE LIVING MEMORY OF LOS ANGELES.

PATTISON ON P.A.

: WOULD YOU PLEASE EXIT THE LOWER CAR?

WE'RE JUST TESTING.

SORRY, NOT ABLE TO RIDE.

THANK YOU.

ALL THE WAY OUT, PLEASE.

ANGELS FLIGHT WAS AN IMPORTANT PIECE OF PUBLIC TRANSIT.

IT'S THE WAY THAT ALL THE PEOPLE WHO LIVED UP ON TOP OF BUNKER HILL MADE THEIR WAY DOWNTOWN TO GO TO WORK.

I STARTED RIDING ANGELS FLIGHT IN MY MOTHER'S ARMS IN 1946 AND RODE IT RIGHT UP UNTIL THE TIME THEY DISMANTLED IT 1N 1969.

FOR A KID, THIS WAS A GREAT THRILL RIDE, BECAUSE IT LOOKS LIKE THE CARS ARE ON A SINGLE TRACK AND ARE GONNA HIT HEAD-ON.

WE'RE PASSING THE OTHER CAR NOW AND IT DOES MISS BY JUST INCHES, AND YOU WAVE AT ALL THE PEOPLE IN THE OTHER CAR.

NOBODY THERE TODAY.

ORIGINALLY, BUNKER HILL WAS KIND OF THE REFUGE OF WEALTHY PEOPLE.

SUBSEQUENTLY, MIDDLE-CLASS PEOPLE--JUDGES, DOCTORS--BUILT HOMES UP THERE.

SHORTLY AFTER THE TURN OF THE 20TH CENTURY, THEY BUILT SMALLER HOMES, THEY BUILT APARTMENT HOUSES UP THERE.

I FOUND A NEWSPAPER CLIPPING FROM 1906 ADVERTISING ROOMS FOR RENT.

THINGS CHANGED, AND THE REALLY RICH PEOPLE MOVED OFF OF THE HILL.

THE CASTLE, WHICH IS A BUILDING THAT MY FAMILY OWNED, WAS BUILT IN THE 1880S, WE THINK.

AND THIS PHOTOGRAPH DATES FROM THAT TIME.

MY GRANDMOTHER BOUGHT IT IN 1937.

WE OWNED IT RIGHT UP TILL 1964.

AT THAT TIME, THAT WAS ABOUT ALL THAT WAS LEFT ON THE HILL.

[RATTLING] THIS IS THE FRONT DOOR KNOB OF THE CASTLE.

THESE ARE PIECES THAT WERE SALVAGED FROM THE FIRE THAT BURNED THE CASTLE DOWN.

I CAN REMEMBER THE SOUND OF MY FOOTSTEPS GOING ACROSS THE WOODEN PORCH APPROACHING THE DOOR.

LOTS OF PEOPLE THINK THEY MOVED HOUSES FROM BUNKER HILL OR THAT SOME OF THE BUILDINGS STILL EXIST SOMEHOW.

NONE OF THEM DO.

THERE'S NOTHING FROM BUNKER HILL THAT WAS PRESERVED.

AND THEY'RE SO GREAT.

SO GREAT.

MAN: ERASURE WAS A VERY, VERY IMPORTANT PART OF LATE 20TH- CENTURY MODERNIST THINKING.

IT ALLOWED FOR MORE FREEWAYS, MORE ROADS.

IT TOOK WHOLE SECTIONS OF THE CITY AND TURNED THEM INTO WHAT SEEMED MORE FUNCTIONAL.

PATTISON: I CAN SHOW YOU WHERE THE CASTLE WAS.

STRAIGHT AHEAD OF US OVER HERE.

UP THE STAIRS, ACROSS GRAND AVENUE, AND THE WELLS FARGO FOOD COURT THERE IS A LOW BUILDING.

THAT'S WHERE THE CASTLE SAT.

ONLY IT WAS PROBABLY ABOUT 5 OR 6 STORIES, BECAUSE THAT'S HOW MUCH OF THE TOP OF THE HILL THEY TOOK OFF WHEN THEY DID THE REDEVELOPMENT.

KLEIN: IT'S A FIGURE-GROUND AMBIGUITY.

YOU SEE AN ILLUSTRATION OF A WALL AND, LET'S SAY, THE FLOOR, AND THEN FOR SOME REASON, THE LINE WHERE THE WALL AND THE FLOOR MEET HAS BEEN SO ERASED, AND FOR SOME REASON, YOU CAN'T TAKE YOUR EYES AWAY FROM IT, BECAUSE IT'S THE THING THAT'S MISSING.

THE ABSENCE MAKES A PRESENCE.

AND IT SPEAKS TO YOU, IT TELLS YOU SOMETHING ABOUT HOW THE WHOLE WALL AND THE FLOOR WORK TOGETHER.

SO, BUNKER HILL IS AN ABSENCE THAT IS A PRESENCE, AND THE LANGUAGE OF THAT STATEMENT IS POTENTIALLY VERY HUMANIZING.

IF SOMETHING'S TRULY ABSENT, IT'S ALSO, AS A VOID, VERY EXPRESSIVE.

SO, THE ABSENCE THAT BUNKER HILL REPRESENTS CONSTANTLY HAUNTS US.

PATTISON: I CAN'T HEAR IT RIGHT NOW, BUT IF WE GO A LITTLE BIT FASTER, YOU'LL HEAR THE RING OF THE CABLE OVER THESE ROLLERS THAT KEEPS THE CABLE GOING IN THE RIGHT DIRECTION.

THERE'S-- THERE IT IS.

THAT'S THE-- THAT'S A SOUND THAT I ASSOCIATE WITH ANGELS FLIGHT AS WELL AS THE GROANING OF THE WHEELS ON THE--ON THE RAILS.

BRINGS BACK A LOT OF MEMORIES.

MAN: WE PERIODICALLY DO SOME TEST RUNS.

IF WE WERE SPENDING 30 OR 40 MINUTES DOING TESTING, WE'D PROBABLY HAVE 100 PEOPLE WE'D TURN AWAY.

IT'S EXTRAORDINARY THE NUMBER OF PEOPLE WHO WANT TO RIDE ANGELS FLIGHT, AND WE JUST HAVE TO DISAPPOINT THEM.

IT'S AN IMPORTANT PART OF LOS ANGELES HISTORY.

[PHONE DIALING] PLEASE DON'T TRY TO BOARD THE CARS.

WE'RE JUST DOING TESTING.

PLEASE EXIT.

THANK YOU.

MAN ON P.A.

: JUST TESTING.

THANK YOU.

WELBORNE: I'M SORRY, BUT THE CAR'S NOT RUNNING NOW.

THE CAR--I'M SORRY.

THE CAR'S NOT RUNNING--IT ISN'T RUNNING.

MAN: IT'S NOT WORKING?

WELBORNE: IT'S NOT WORKING NOW.

[INDISTINCT CHATTER] WELBORNE: I KNOW EVERYBODY WOULD LIKE TO RIDE IT, BUT IT'S NOT RUNNING.

I LOVE THIS THING.

IT'LL BE A NICE DAY WHEN IT GETS RUNNING AGAIN, BECAUSE EVERYBODY WANTS TO RIDE IT.

KLEIN: MEMORY CONSTANTLY, CONSTANTLY IS BEING ERASED AND RECOVERED AND RECONFIGURED.

YOU MIGHT SAY IT'S ALMOST A WINNING.

IT'S CONSTANTLY EVOLVING.

THERE IS NO POINT WHERE THE MEMORY WAS PURE.

IT BECOMES VERY INTERESTING TO SEE THE CITY AS A LIVING, SELECTED, AND PARTIAL MEMORY.

PATTISON: THERE'S ONE OF OUR ELDERLY NEIGHBORS WALKING DOWN THE STREET.

KLEIN: WHEN YOU GENERATE A MODERNIST, ERASED VERSION OF A CITY, WHEN YOU ACTUALLY TEAR IT DOWN, THERE'S REALLY NO WAY TO BRING IT BACK.

SO, BUNKER HILL IS SIMPLY A SERIES OF PHOTOGRAPHS BEFORE IT WAS TORN DOWN.

PATTISON: WHAT DID ALL THOSE OLD PENSIONERS USED TO DO ON BUNKER HILL?

BECAUSE THEY WEREN'T WORKING, RIGHT?

THEY HAD ALL KINDS OF TIME ON THEIR HAND.

THEY CAME DOWN HERE TO PERSHING SQUARE AND SAT AND TALKED WITH EACH OTHER.

THERE WAS ACTUALLY A SPEAKERS' CORNER OVER ON THAT SIDE OVER THERE, ON THAT CORNER, YOU KNOW, LIKE THE SPEAKERS' CORNER IN HYDE PARK IN LONDON?

WE HAD A SPEAKERS' CORNER OVER HERE.

WHEN I WAS A KID, MY GREAT-GRANDMOTHER LIVED UP THERE ON THE SALT BOX THAT MY UNCLE MICKEY OWNED, AND SHE HAD 5 SONS AND TWO DAUGHTERS.

EVERY YEAR, ALL OF THEM WOULD COME BACK TO LOS ANGELES TO VISIT HER... MASTERS: REDEVELOPMENT TOTALLY ALTERED DOWNTOWN LA'S TOPOGRAPHY.

DECADES EARLIER, ON THE SHORELINE JUST SOUTH OF SANTA MONICA, A TOBACCO HEIR NAMED ABBOT KINNEY DRAINED THE SALT MARSHES, FLATTENED THE COASTAL DUNES, AND BUILT VENICE OF AMERICA.

IN HIS PLANS FOR THIS SEASIDE RESORT, KINNEY INCORPORATED SEVERAL REFERENCES TO ITS MEDITERRANEAN NAMESAKE, FROM THE ITALIANATE ARCHITECTURE TO HIS FANCIFUL NOTION OF LAUNCHING A CULTURAL RENAISSANCE THERE.

BUT VENICE OF AMERICA WOULD NEVER HAVE LIVED UP TO ITS NAME IF NOT FOR ITS 7 CANALS.

THESE CANALS, DISTINCT FROM THE SMALLER GRADE OF WATERWAYS THAT STILL GRACE VENICE, CALIFORNIA TODAY, SURVIVED ONLY 24 YEARS BEFORE THEY WERE FILLED IN AND PAVED OVER TO BECOME RESIDENTIAL STREETS.

FILMMAKERS MATT GLASS AND JORDAN WAYNE LONG TAKE US BACK TO A TIME WHEN GONDOLIERS RODE THROUGH LA'S VENICE OF AMERICA.

MAN: I BOUGHT MY LOT IN 1973.

I WAS A TEACHER.

[INDISTINCT] A COUNSELOR AND THEN I BECAME A PRINCIPAL.

I'M WORKING THROUGH MY--WHAT I CALL MY DEVOLUTION PERIOD OF LIVING, WHEN YOU'RE GETTING OLDER AND YOUR BACK HURTS.

THIS IS THE PRESENT-DAY VENICE CANAL.

MAN: WHOA, WHOA, WHOA, WHOA, WHOA, WHOA... WOMAN: OK. NOT READY?

MAN: JUST LIFT THE BEAR AND NOT THE BOARD, RIGHT?

WOMAN: I AM.

MAN: AND THEN JUST START FEEDING IT UNDER.

I'VE BEEN IN VENICE FOR, LIKE, 43 YEARS.

I HITCHHIKED IN AS A TEENAGER AND WE'VE BEEN IN THIS HOUSE FOR 21 YEARS.

WOMAN: YOU KNOW, IT'S KIND OF AN ANOMALY NOW, AS YOU KNOW.

THIS LITTLE PLACE.

RANSOM: AAH!

MASTEJ: I'M A NORMAL PERSON, AREN'T I?

I NEVER WANTED TO PUT A SANTA HAT ON AND BORROW A PUPPY AND DRESS HIM UP.

I ALWAYS WANT TO DO SOMETHING A LITTLE BIT LARGER.

DUFAY: THIS IS ABBOT KINNEY'S VENICE OF AMERICA.

RANSOM: HE WAS FROM NEW JERSEY.

ABBOT KINNEY.

MASTEJ: YEAH, HE WAS TOBACCO MONEY.

DUFAY: HE CAME FROM THE FAR EAST AND HE STOPPED IN SAN FRANCISCO.

WAS GONNA GO BACK EAST.

HE COULDN'T GET OVER, I GUESS, BECAUSE OF STORMS AND IT WAS WINTER.

HE CAME TO THE SOUTH.

MASTEJ: HE HAD A HARD TIME SLEEPING AND HE STAYED IN A HOTEL AND SLEPT IN THE LOBBY AND HAD THE BEST SLEEP OF HIS LIFE AND HE DECIDED TO MOVE HERE.

RANSOM: HEY.

GONNA SEE HOW THIS GOES.

YEAH.

YOU'RE GONNA-- YOU'RE GONNA STEADY THESE.

TRUST ME.

GOOD, GOOD, GOOD.

DUFAY: THE ORIGINAL BUILDING OF THE CANALS, THEY STARTED WITH TRYING TO DO IT WITH DAY LABORERS AND HORSES, ETC.

FINALLY, THEY BROUGHT IN A BIG-- ONE OF THOSE THINGS THAT JUST DIGS UP THE THINGS.

THIS IS THE LAGOON, AND THEN THESE WERE CANALS, CANALS, CANALS.

OPENING DAY WAS JULY 4 IN 1905.

I THINK THEY HAD 40,000 OR 50,000 PEOPLE COME OUT.

PEOPLE WERE INTERESTED IN BEING ENTERTAINED, ETC., TO BE SEEING SOMETHING DIFFERENT.

THERE WAS A ROLLER COASTER, I BELIEVE, RIGHT IN HERE.

THERE'S A RESTAURANT THERE THAT STILL HAS THE COLUMNS, AND THEN RIGHT HERE, ALL OF THOSE THAT ARE ORIGINAL.

ALL OF THE FRONTS OF THEM HERE WERE THE COLONNADES, LIKE FROM VENICE, ITALY, AND ACTUALLY, HE DID BRING IN GONDOLIERS FROM ITALY.

THE RAILROADS HAD EVERYTHING TO DO WITH THIS DEVELOPMENT.

THIS IS WHERE THE RED CAR CAME.

THIS IS HOW PEOPLE GOT HERE FROM DOWNTOWN.

AND THEN THEY BURNED ALMOST ALL--[INDISTINCT] SOLD ALL OF THE RED CARS, ETC.

NOW, OF COURSE, WE'RE PUTTING LIGHT RAIL BACK IN.

RANSOM: THIS IS MY LAST ONE.

THAT WAS THE--THAT WAS THE DEAL.

YOU KNOW?

SHE GETS HER LIFE-SIZE BEAR, BUT THIS IS MY LAST ONE.

DUFAY: THE FINAL BLOW CAME IN 1929, WHEN A RULING BY THE CALIFORNIA SUPREME COURT CLEARED THE WAY FOR FILLING IN THE LAST OF THE KINNEY CANALS AND TURNING THEM INTO ROADWAYS.

A CHRYSALIS WAS THERE, WHICH IS THE GREEN, LITTLE CHRYSALIS, AND THEN THERE WAS ONE RIGHT THERE.

THEY CRAWL EVERYWHERE.

RANSOM: IT'S CHANGING.

VENICE HAS ALWAYS CHANGED.

THERE'S A LOT OF PEOPLE THAT WOULD LOVE FOR THIS TO BE GONE AND THE CANALS.

MASTEJ: WE--WE WOULD ALWAYS SAY THIS.

IT'S ALWAYS AGAINST ALL ODDS.

DUFAY: IS THERE A CHANGE?

YES.

GOOD OR BAD, IT'S A CHANGE, BECAUSE IT'S GOING TO HAPPEN.

RANSOM: THEY CALL IT THE ANNUAL VENICE CANALS HOLIDAY BOAT PARADE, AND I CALL IT THE THINGS YOU DO FOR LOVE PARADE.

MASTEJ: THERE'S A BUNCH OF US THAT ARE STILL HANGING IN.

I FIGURE JUST ENJOY IT WHILE YOU HAVE IT.

DUFAY: WELL, YOU KNOW, WHEN YOU THINK BACK ON IT, YOU KNOW, ABBOT KINNEY, HE TOOK A TREMENDOUS CHANCE, I MEAN, DOING WHATEVER HE WANTED TO DO.

THAT'S WHO HE WAS, I GUESS.

I DIDN'T KNOW HIM.

EVEN THOUGH I'M GETTING A LITTLE OLDER.

[LAUGHS] I DIDN'T EVEN KNOW HIM.

IT'S A LITTLE BIT OF HEAVEN, YOU KNOW.

IT IS--IT'S A BEAUTIFUL PLACE TO LIVE.

RANSOM: IT'S ALMOST LIKE AN EXPERIMENT.

EVERYBODY THAT HAS THEIR HEYDAY IN VENICE THINKS THAT'S WHAT VENICE IS.

VENICE IS WHAT IT IS.

VENICE IS WHAT THE PEOPLE IN IT MAKE IT.

SO, THIS IS IT RIGHT NOW.