1950s
Papermate opened its Santa Monica factory in 1957. The plant produced 600 million ballpoint pens in 1971 and closed in 2005.
The 3,000-seat Santa Monica Civic Auditorium, designed in the International Style by Welton Becket, opened in 1958. From 1961-1968 the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences held its annual Oscar awards ceremony there. Performers that have appeared over the decades include: Andre Previn, Dave Brubeck, Pete Seeger, Ella Fitzgerald, Tony Bennett, Joan Baez, Bob Dylan, Jimi Hendrix, David Bowie, Elton John, Ray Charles, Arlo Guthrie, The Beach Boys, The Carpenters, Bill Cosby, Jonathan Winters, Bob Hope, Allen Ginsberg, The Rolling Stones, T.Rex, Led Zeppelin, Ramones, The Clash, Buzzcocks, Public Enemy and countless others. Since the late 1980s the auditorium has been more popular for trade conventions than performances. The films The T.A.M.I. Show and Urgh! A Music War were shot there.
Pacific Ocean Park, the last of the great amusement piers, opened in 1958. While it temporarily eclipsed competitor Disneyland, attendance later plummeted and by 1967 the park was foreclosed for back taxes. It sat empty and rotting, an unattractive "attractive nuisance" until finally removed in 1974.
Adjacent to Pacific Ocean Park was the rock and roll club, The Cheetah, which featured early performances by such acts as The Doors, Alice Cooper, Pink Floyd, Love, The Mothers of Invention, The Seeds, Buffalo Springfield and others. It closed in 1968.
The Synanon drug rehabilitation cult moved into the large Casa Del Mar building in 1959 and added their strange presence to the area until they left for more remote quarters in 1968. They retained ownership of the empty building until 1978.
Read more about this topic: History Of Santa Monica, California