Historic Walking Tour #2: The Huntington Beach Pier

ABOVE: Huntington Beach near pier and bandshell, circa 1914.  (Photo, Library of Congress)

   The Huntington Beach pier--#2 on the Historic Downtown walking guide--has been a fixture on our coast for well over one hundred years.  (See a photograph of the original 1902 rough pine industrial pier at http://www.historichuntingtonbeach.blogspot.com/2012/05/surf-city-ninety-eight-years-ago-this.html).

   Listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1989, the older pier was considered "locally important because it was constructed for the express purpose of establishing the city of Huntington Beach as a West Coast resort community" and because "it embodies elements of architectural design and engineering that were advanced for its period of construction, and is a rare surviving example of early 20th century reinforced concrete marine structures in the United States."

   Like a phoenix, the pier has risen a half dozen times after storms and ocean wear-and-tear have taken it out.  It would not be Huntington Beach without the pier.  Take a walk through time before you walk down the pier.

ABOVE: The "new" pier with a view of Catalina Island, circa 1914.

 

ABOVE: Datestone for the Huntington Beach pier, 1914. (Photo, Library of Congress)

ABOVE: Pier and bandshell, circa 1914. (Photo, Library of Congress)

ABOVE: Looking from Main Street and Ocean Boulevard (present-day Pacific Coast Highway) to pier, circa 1914. The "Pride of the Pacific"--designed by Ernest Rothenberg--is 1316 feet. (Photo, Library of Congress)

ABOVE: A saltwater "plunge" was a popular feature next to the pier, circa 1922. (Photo, Library of Congress)

ABOVE: The 1850-foot pier, circa 1930. The pier suffered damage during the 1933 Long Beach earthquake. (Photo, Library of Congress)

ABOVE: Longest pier on the coast, with "sun rooms," circa 1935.  In 1939, a hurricane tore off the end of the pier and it was rebuilt in 1940 to a length of 1822 feet. (Photo, Pomona Public Library)

 ABOVE: South side of pier, circa 1940s.  Note ship off end of pier.

ABOVE: Pier post WWII, re-opened to the public, circa mid 1945.  During the war, the U.S. Army used the pier for submarine watch and equipped it with a gunnery. (Photo, Library of Congress)

ABOVE: Pier photographed by California Department of Fish and Game, circa 1949.  Note oil well derricks throughout Huntington Beach.

ABOVE: Huntington Beach pier, circa 1950s.  (Photo, Los Angeles Public Library)

ABOVE: Tandem competition next to pier, circa 1962.

ABOVE:  El Nino storm strikes the pier and the cafe is lost to the sea, circa 1983.  After another damaging storm in 1988, the pier was rebuilt following the 1914 design. (Photo, Orange County Register)

ABOVE: Aerial view of pier looking toward Main Street, circa mid 1980s, before re-construction. (Photo, Library of Congress)

ABOVE:  View from end of pier deck toward Main Street and Pacific Coast Highway, circa mid 1980s. (Photo, Library of Congress)

 ABOVE: Captains Gallery, circa mid 1980s.  (Photo, Library of Congress)

ABOVE: Maxwell's Restaurant at the foot of the pier, circa mid 1980s (at the site of present-day Duke's). (Photo, Library of Congress)

ABOVE: Neptune's Locker, circa mid 1980s. (Photo, Library of Congress)

ABOVE: Underneath the pier, circa mid 1980s. (Photo, Library of Congress)

ABOVE: U.S. Open, 1999. The pier reopened in 1992 and is 1853 feet long. (Photo, surf.transworld.net)

ABOVE: Water spout at end of pier, El Nino of February 2005 (we survived this one). (Photo, NOAA / NWS)

ABOVE: Cattle drive on beach, circa 2007, in conjunction with the U.S. Open of Surfing. 

ABOVE:  Surfing the Huntington Beach pier is almost a century-old tradition.  Visitors and locals alike walk down the pier, lean against the railing, and watch the experts at work. (Photo, Sacramento Bee)

ABOVE: The pier is the heart and soul of Huntington Beach.  Surfers' "paddle out" for the late Sean Collins of surfline.com, January 2012. (Photo, Sacramento Bee)

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