April 1911: The closed Midway Plaisance at Venice awaits the wrecking crew to make way for a roller coaster.

This photo accompanied a story in the April 3, 1911, Los Angeles Times:

All that remains of the historic old Midway Plaisance at Venice will soon become a memory. The unique attraction which Gaston and Ferdinand Akoun made famous in the early days of that quickly builded resort by the sea are to be wrecked, to make way for a new and unique riding device declared to abound in thrills, to be known as the “Giant Safety Racing Coaster.”

Thomas W. Prior, who is to be at the head of this hair-raising project, has arrived at the seaside, fresh from Chicago. Early tomorrow morning he will have an army of laborers on the ground to accomplish the razing of Midway. Work will be prosecuted with vigor, to the end that the…