San Pedro Coastal Bluff Graffiti and Palm Trees

Sunken City sits at the edge of Point Fermin in San Pedro, where a chunk of coastal bluff gave way in 1929 as the ground beneath it slid toward the Pacific. Ongoing land movement, tied to unstable shale and erosion along the cliffs, has kept the site fenced off from official development ever since. Despite the barriers, the ruins have long drawn explorers and artists, and the broken concrete slabs are covered in layers of graffiti added over decades. Palm trees and scrub now grow among the wreckage, framing views out over the water toward the shipping lanes off the Los Angeles–Long Beach coast.

Photo taken in December 2011.