Ocean Park in Santa Monica in Los Angeles County, California — The American West (Pacific Coastal)
California Dreaming?
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Belmar History+Art Historical Locations
Photographed by Duane and Tracy Marsteller, September 27, 2025
1. California Dreaming marker
California Dreaming?
African Americans have lived in Santa Monica longer than any other beach city in the region. They first arrived in the late nineteenth century, joining other ethnic groups that left their homes for better lives. African Americans also came for equal opportunities and freedom.
Most Black newcomers were from Southern states, where they lived under the White racist laws and practices of Jim Crow. There, for nearly 100 years after the Civil War, this deliberate discrimination made their lives oppressive. Although California passed civil rights laws for all its citizens in 1893, racist practices limited where African Americans lived, worked, and went to school, which places they visited, and even which people they socialized with.
But Black Californians persevered. In Santa Monica, they created opportunities to work, rent and buy property, and gather in public. Over the years, they fought to keep these rights, win others, and tear down the walls of anti-Black discrimination.
Education for All
Camelia Hunt, student number 11 in this 1893 photograph, was the only African American in her fourth-grade class. Born in Virginia, she was about ten years old when she and her family moved to Santa Monica in the 1880s. Her father, George W. Hunt, owned a barbershop
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Belmar History+Art Historical Locations
This map shows the Santa Monica places that are featured in the stories of the outdoor exhibition around Historic Belmar Park.
1. Charles and Selena Brunson lived at 1745 5th St.
2. George W. Hunt's barbershop at 902 Wilshire Blvd.
3. The Hunts also owned their home at 1548 7th St.
4. Fresh Cow for sale in 1909 advertisement at 1823 Belmar St.
5. The Bay Street Beach spanned from Pico Blvd. to Bicknell Ave. (Bay Street Beach Historic District)
6. Santa Monica Civic Auditorium at 1855 Main St.
7. Santa Monica High School at 601 Pico Blvd.
8. Joseph W. Spalding's funeral home at 1909 Colorado Ave.
9. Phillips Chapel Christian Methodist Episcopal Church at 2001 4th St.
10. La Bonita bathhouse and lodging at 1813-1825 Belmar Pl.
11. Dr. Marcus Rucker's medical building (1940) at 424 Pico Blvd.
12. Manuel and Julia Murrell building at 400-404 Pico Blvd.; site of Drs. Tucker & Hurd's first medical practices and Lloyd C. Allen's janitorial business.
13. Dr. George Hurd's medical building (1948) at 1871 9th St.
14. Allen Janitorial
Photographed by Duane and Tracy Marsteller, September 27, 2025
2. Belmar History+Art Historical Locations
15. The singing Peters Sisters lived at 2235 4th St.
16. Nathan, Adela and Norman E. Hensley first lived at 321 Pico Blvd.
17. The Hensley family later lived (mid-1940s) at 621 Bay St.
18. Gordon Day Work Company at Pier and Ocean Aves. (Barnard Way in Ocean Park)
19. Walter Gordon lived nearby at 104 Bicknell Ave.
20. Gilbert McCarroll's Shoeshine Parlor at 121 Pier Ave. (Barnard Way in Ocean Park)
21. Gilbert McCarroll's Grocery & Soda Fountain at 18th St. & Broadway.
22. Moore Beauty Salon on the 1700 block of 4th St.
23. Caldwell's dance hall at 1816 3rd St.
24. Ebony Beach Club was to be housed at 1811 Ocean Ave.
25. Sears Roebuck & Co. department store at 302 Colorado Ave.
Erected by City of Santa Monica. (Marker Number 6.)
Topics. This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: African Americans • Civil Rights. A significant historical year for this entry is 1893.
Location. 34° 0.581′ N, 118° 29.253′ W. Marker is in Santa Monica, California, in Los Angeles County. It is in Ocean Park. It is at the intersection of 4th Street and Pico Boulevard, on the right when traveling south on 4th Street
Photographed by Duane and Tracy Marsteller, September 27, 2025
3. California Dreaming Marker
Regionally, this marker is in Greater Los Angeles and in the Transverse Ranges. It is also on the American Pacific Coast. Globally, it is in North America, on the Ring of Fire, in the Pacific Rim, in the Western Hemisphere, in the Western World, and in the Anglosphere. Historically, it finds itself in what was once New Spain and also Mexicos Alta California.
Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within walking distance of this marker: A Spiritual Home (a few steps from this marker); The Doctor is In (within shouting distance of this marker); Learning in Black and White (within shouting distance of this marker); A Neighborhood Erased (within shouting distance of this marker); Land of Our Own (within shouting distance of this marker); Putting Down Roots (about 300 feet away, measured in a direct line); A Resurrection in Four Stanzas (about 300 feet away); Black Lives in Ocean Park (about 300 feet away). Touch for a list and map of all markers in Santa Monica.
More about this marker. It is part of Belmar History + Art, a commemoration and celebration of the African American neighborhoods of South Santa Monica and their contributions to the city's history and cultural heritage. Belmar History + Art includes sculptural artwork, an educational program, website, and interpretive signage (including this one) installed around the perimeter of Belmont Park. Note: The project web address has been changed to www.santamonica.gov/belmar-history-art
Credits. This page was last revised on December 4, 2025. It was originally submitted on November 4, 2025, by Duane and Tracy Marsteller of Murfreesboro, Tennessee. This page has been viewed 54 times since then and 17 times this year. Photos: 1, 2, 3. submitted on November 4, 2025, by Duane and Tracy Marsteller of Murfreesboro, Tennessee.
