On to the main event... The Sunken City was a two block area at the southern most tip of San Pedro, CA. It was prime ocean front property that afforded views toward Catalina Island to the south and main harbor of Los Angeles/Long Beach to the east. In 1928 the area became even closer to the Pacific as a series of slow moving land shifts began. Quick action saved many of the houses constructed on 2 blocks of W Paso Del Mar and the end of South Carolina St. By the mid 1930’s, the subsidence had ended, but the road and neighborhood was deemed unsafe and fenced off. Nearly 80 years later, all that remains are broken foundations, crumbling road sections, and memories of a neighborhood now gone.

Where the road ends…

The view from Point Fermin Park isn’t terribly spectacular

You only start seeing sights like these by bypassing the fence and entering the area

The Foundation of Things Passed

Frank – Slip Sliding Away…

The trail head down to the ocean

Looking back towards the Park and lighthouse


Tatyanna and my daughter (back to camera)

A light post

A large foundation – perhaps was for several houses or a community building

The Remains of W Paso Del Mar


Here’s a slightly better view the roadway (upper left to lower right). Yes those are 20’ x 20’ sections of road preached on crumbling outcroppings of dirt.

A Royal (Palm) guardian for a decayed land

Taggers have “decorated” some of the more accessible roadway stabs.

A perfect palette in an imperfect land... Fleeting or Fleeing Art?

Looking east towards the entrance to San Pedro Bay.
Where the Sidewalk Ends
There is a place where the sidewalk ends
And before the street begins,
And there the grass grows soft and white,
And there the sun burns crimson bright,
And there the moon-bird rests from his flight
To cool in the peppermint wind.

Let us leave this place where the smoke blows black
And the dark street winds and bends.
Past the pits where the asphalt flowers grow
We shall walk with a walk that is measured and slow,
And watch where the chalk-white arrows go
To the place where the sidewalk ends.

Yes we'll walk with a walk that is measured and slow,
And we'll go where the chalk-white arrows go,
For the children, they mark, and the children, they know
The place where the sidewalk ends.
Shel Silverstein
As the sun grew low, we bid adieu to the Sunken City, but not before one last shot

Further information can be found at the following sites:
http://www.laokay.com/MiscSanPedro.htm
http://www.trails.com/tcatalog_trail.asp?trailid=HGS176-282
http://seis.natsci.csulb.edu/bperry/Mass%20Wasting/Slides.htm
Next up, Fort McArthur, the Korean American Friendship Bell and Sunset