Silas White Street To Be Unveiled As Santa Monica Honors Ebony Beach Club Visionary

SANTA MONICA, CA — Santa Monica will officially unveil Silas White Street next week, honoring the Black entrepreneur whose dream of creating the Ebony Beach Club became the focus of a landmark settlement between the city and his family nearly seven decades after the project was derailed.

The public ceremony will take place at 4:30 p.m. Monday, Aug. 10, at 1846 Main St., where a portion of Vicente Terrace has been renamed Silas White Street.

"I am proud of the innovative and critical work that Santa Monica is doing in the restorative justice space," Mayor Caroline Torosis said in a statement. "This is about more than property. It's about truth, accountability, and taking real action to repair the legacy of racial injustice in our city."

White acquired an interest in the Ocean Avenue property in 1957 with plans to open the Ebony Beach Club, envisioned as a welcoming gathering place for Black families at a time when opportunities for beachfront recreation remained limited by segregation and discrimination. The project never opened after the city acquired the property through eminent domain as part of a civic redevelopment effort.

White died in 1962 and today, the site is occupied by the Viceroy Hotel.

The White family's campaign for recognition gained momentum in 2024, when descendants urged the Santa Monica City Council to address what they described as a historic injustice. Council members unanimously directed staff to research the property's history before later voting to enter mediation with the family.

That process culminated in Nov. 2025, when the City Council unanimously approved a settlement agreement with White's daughter, Constance White. The agreement included a $350,000 payment while stating it did not constitute an admission of liability by the city.

In addition to the financial settlement, the agreement called for the creation of Silas White Day on Oct. 12, a permanent exhibit at the Santa Monica Main Library and the renaming of part of Vicente Terrace as Silas White Street.

The city said the street renaming also aligns with Santa Monica's recently established Restorative Justice Program.

The Aug. 10 ceremony is free and open to the public.