Some of you might know but then again some of you might not.

A hundred years ago in 1906, when developers Frank Shaw and George C. Flint were building Belmont Heights to be the fastest growing subdivision in Long Beach, residents were voicing their anger at ever rising taxes.  I wonder if things change at all.

Belmont Heights became the City of Belmont in 1908.  Seeing this cash flow away from the city, the City of Belmont voted one year later to be reincorporated to Long Beach after being promised a pier.  And what a pier we have!  Six year later, the pier was built. 

Seriously, compared to all the piers we have surrounding us, ours is a sad looking one.  Our city could really gain from a nicer looking one.  On the flip side, do we really want to bring in more people and become like the other cities around us?  I guess it depends which side of the fence you sit on.

In 1903, A.M. Parsons and his son A.C. sold lots on the Peninsula.  Little did they know what it would turn into, I think.

Mr. Parson was so taken with the natural beauty of the area, quite like yours truly here, that he decided to pursue his dreams of a city filled with canals, gondolas, and houses with red tiled roofs.

Parsons created the Naples Company with the help of H.E. Huntington.  It was a costly and daunting is task to be anything on this marsh land.  In 1907, things started to change.  The press covered it stating it was a bold scheme and not a dream anymore.

2nd Street was to be a canal but that proved to be too costly and it was covered again.  Thank Goodness, where would I have gone shopping all this time?