Santa Monica’s coastal bluffs, circa 1898. This week for Los Angeles magazine, L.A. as Subject has the story of how this cliff-top land was made into the beach city’s treasured Palisades Park.

“Merry Xmas” greetings from Venice Beach in 1951.

Part of the Los Angeles Examiner Collection in the USC Digital Library.

Oil wells on Venice Beach in 1931.

Part of the California Historical Society Collection in the USC Digital Library.

Four women stroll down the Newport Beach esplanade, circa 1905.

Record crowds escape the heat in Long Beach in 1957

Circa 1890 view of the Santa Monica shoreline, looking northwest from the Arcadia Hotel.

Venice Pier at night, 1907

Vintage Postcard: Palisades along the Santa Monica coast circa 1931

Crowds blanket Venice Beach on this day in 1929. (From the USC Libraries’ Los Angeles Examiner Collection)

For more beach scenes from Southern California’s past, don’t miss L.A. as Subject’s recent post on KCET’s SoCal Focus blog, which featured 30 historical images from several regional archives.