Naples Canals
The Naples neighborhood of Long Beach is built on three islands divided by canals which open into Alamitos Bay. Home today to multimillion-dollar houses, sightseers on gondolas and popular Christmastime festivities, Naples started as the vision of developer Arthur M. Parsons in 1903. Parsons raised $500,000 from investors that included Henry Huntington and purchased the marshland that would become Naples from the Alamitos Land Company. Construction began in August, 1905, reshaping the existing land and water into the three islands of Naples. The project was completed in the 1920s, then rebuilt after the 1933 Long Beach earthquake with support from WPA funding. A popular feature of the community is La Bella Fontana di Napoli, a small circular park centered around an elegant, three-tiered fountain at the end of the Colonnade Park.
Long Beach, Los Angeles County
Photographer: Andrew Schmidt