Huntington Beach Pier
Introduction
Text-to-speech Audio
Images
Huntington Beach Pier. (2014, M. Urashima)
Backstory and Context
Text-to-speech Audio
The original wooden pier was built of rough pine in 1902, before the incorporation of Huntington
Beach in 1909. By 1904, the
wooden pier extended 1,000 feet, or 300 meters, into the Pacific Ocean. In 1910, it
was severely damaged by an ocean storm.
The newly constructed pier was re-dedicated in 1914, after the Huntington Beach Township organized a $75,000 bond measure. The 1914 pier set a record at that time as the longest and highest concrete pleasure pier in the United States, extending 1,350 feet, or 40 meters, in length.
Legendary Hawaiian-Irish surfer George Freeth provided the first known surfing demonstration at the Huntington Beach pier at the 1914 re-dedication. In the 1920s, Olympian and famed Hawaiian surfer Duke Kahanamoku was known to surf the pier, inspiring local residents to make their own surfboards from wooden telephone poles.
Among other sports competitions, the annual U.S. Open of Surfing is held on the south side of the pier every summer. It is the largest surfing competition in the world and typically lasts one week. As part of the event, notable people in the world of surfing are also inducted into the Surfing Walk of Fame and the Surfers' Hall of Fame, both located directly across from the pier on Main Street.
The City of Huntington Beach operates a 24-hour live pier webcam and provides current beach conditions for surfers and beach goers on the City website.
Sources
"This City has one of the finest concrete piers in the world." Huntington Beach News(Huntington Beach)June 12, 1914. , Volume Ten ed. https://www.huntingtonbeachca.gov/files/users/library/complete/070910-9.pdf
Jepsen, Chris. The End. O.C. History Roundup. May 21, 2011. Accessed March 15, 2018. http://ochistorical.blogspot.com/2011/05/end.html. History of the end of pier cafes.
National Register of Historic Places in Orange County, California. Wikipedia. . Accessed March 15, 2018. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Register_of_Historic_Places_listings_in_Orange_County,_Califo....
Miller, Jeffrey. "Landmark pier to come alive again." The Orange County Register(Santa Ana)July 12, 1992. . https://www.huntingtonbeachca.gov/files/users/library/complete/071025-1.pdf
Rebirth of a Landmark: the Huntington Beach Pier. City of Huntington Beach Public Library. . Accessed March 15, 2018. https://www.huntingtonbeachca.gov/files/users/library/complete/071025-1.pdf. Historical narrative.
Sales, Morgan. "County's longest pier: Huntington Beach claims honors." Huntington Beach Independent(Huntington Beach)October 08, 1992. . https://www.huntingtonbeachca.gov/files/users/library/complete/071018-2.pdf
Historical Files: Pier and Surfing. City of Huntington Beach Public Library. . . https://www.huntingtonbeachca.gov/Government/Departments/Library/contact_us_about/hbpl_history_pier.....