A Brief History of the Silver Strand

The Silver Strand is an area south of Washington Boulevard between the Ballona Lagoon and Via Marina in Marina del Rey. It terminates at the Main Channel leading to the Pacific Ocean. It’s been part of Venice since 1905 and was originally a group of islands and sandbars! Not the solid land mass we know of now.

This changed with the discovery of oil in 1929. Major companies built roads and infrastructure to access the oil and gas wells in the area. Once that supply began drying up, different developers and individuals saw the potential and began to build on the land. That and the creation of Marina del Rey Harbor in 1965 formed what we now know as the Silver Strand.

A 1902 USGS Survey Map of Rancho La Ballona. The Silver Strand is the area of land just to the left of the blue section (which is the original Ballona Lagoon)

A certain amount of confusion arose in the 1980s, when portions of Venice (including the Silver Strand) were assigned a new zip code which was shared with Marina del Rey. So your mailing address is Marina del Rey, when you vote you are a Venetian, but you can also say you live in Los Angeles!