Old Santa Monica Forestry Station

Abbot Kinney chaired the State Board of Forestry before he built Venice, and in 1887 he put the nation's first experimental forestry station on six acres of Rustic Canyon donated by Senator John P. Jones and Arcadia Bandini de Stearns Baker. His subject was eucalyptus — close to a hundred species tested here, free seed distributed statewide, a three-hundred-page book in 1895. It never became the cash crop it was tested as; the wood was too soft to build with. His plantings stood more than a century. The Palisades Fire burned through this canyon in January 2025.

What the plaque says

In 1887, the State Board of Forestry established the nation's first experimental forestry station. Located in Rustic Canyon, the station tested exotic trees for planting in California, established plantations for management studies, and produced planting stock for scientific and conservation purposes. The station was operated by the Board of Forestry until 1893 and by the University of California until 1923.

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Santa Monica Pier — 2.2 mi
  Where the Mother Road runs out of continent, and where the End of the Trail sign gives the drive somewhere to finish.
• Colorado Street Bridge — 21 mi
  Beaux-Arts concrete arches curving 150 feet above the Arroyo Seco, opened in 1913 and later a link in Route 66.
• Mission San Gabriel Arcangel — 24 mi
  The fourth Alta California mission, built on Tongva land with Tongva labor, rebuilt after arson and now telling that story straight.

More markers nearby

• Serra Springs — 3.3 mi
• Harold Lloyd Estate (Greenacres) — 6.2 mi
• Portolá Trail Campsite (2) — 8.1 mi
• Hancock Park-La Brea — 9.3 mi