What began as a small Japanese fishing village with a prime Japanese-owned resort at the Santa Monica Bay, gave way with the opening of the Port of Los Angeles. Yet the warm climate and ocean breeze enticed the settlers to remain. By the 1940s, 60% of the Japanese had found work as gardeners and others opened laundries, nurseries, and grew vegetables and bedding plants. While none of the pre-war buildings remain, the Santa Monica Japanese Community Center at 1413 Michigan Street, built after the war, is proudly maintained and continues the legacy of the former Japanese school.