page_title: Huntington Beach Pier
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: Huntington Beach Pier / History
caption_attribution_description: English: The Huntington Beach pier August 20, 2015 photo D Ramey Logan
context_page_description: The Huntington Beach Pier is a municipal pier located in Huntington Beach, California, at the west end of Main Street and west of Pacific Coast Highway. At 1,850 feet in length, it is one of the longest public piers on the West Coast. The deck of the pier is 30 feet above sea level, while the top of the restaurant structure at the end of the pier is 77 feet.
  The Huntington Beach Pier is on the California Register of Historical Resources. It is one of 123 historic places and districts listed on the National Register of Historic Places in Orange County, California.
  One of the main landmarks of Huntington Beach, also known as "Surf City, USA", the pier is the center of the city's prominent beach culture. A popular meeting place for surfers, the ocean waves here are enhanced by a natural effect caused by the edge-diffraction of open ocean swells around Catalina Island, creating consistent surf year-round.
context_section_description: The pier was built circa 1902, before the incorporation of Huntington Beach in 1909. The Huntington Beach Company (Standard Oil), built a wooden pier at the terminus of Main Street in 1904, which extended 1,000 feet (300 m) into the Paciic Ocean. In 1910, it was damaged by a severe storm that caused a large portion of it to plunge into the Pacific. The Huntington Beach Township's board of trustees approved a $70,000 bond in 1911 to construct a new pier made of concrete extending 1,350 feet (410 m) in length. 
  The newly constructed pier was re-dedicated in 1914 and set a record at that time as the longest and highest concrete pleasure pier in the United States. Legendary surfer George Freeth provided a surfing demonstration at the pier re-dedication.
  In 1931, the city extended the pier by 500 feet (150 m) and added the Sunshine Cafe at the end. The extension separated from the original pier during the 1933 Long Beach earthquake. Repairs were made by the City of Huntington Beach, but the pier was damaged again by hurricane weather in 1939. Reconstruction of the pier was completed a year later.
  After the attack by Japan at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, on December 7, 1941, Huntington Beach, along with many other coastal cities, mobilized to help the war effort. The U.S. Navy installed a submarine lookout post on the pier, along with a heavy caliber machine gun. When the war was over, all military equipment was removed and the pier was returned for public use. In 1983 and 1988, Pacific storms destroyed the pier and the "End Cafe". Fluor/Daniel Consultants of Irvine conducted a study on the structural stability of the pier and the pier was declared unsafe.  It was closed in July of that year. A community group called P.I.E.R. (Persons Interested in Expediting Reconstruction) was organized to raise funds for the pier's reconstruction. P.I.E.R. raised over $100,000 by selling T-shirts and other merchandise with the P.I.E.R. logo. An additional $92,000 was donated by the community of Anjo, Japan, a Huntington Beach Sister City. 
  Construction of a new 1,856-foot pier began in October, 1990. The pier was completed and re-dedicated on July 18, 1992, with a ribbon-cutting ceremony. Over 500,000 people attended the re-dedication and grand re-opening. The City of Huntington Beach established a management and observation program to maintain the pier, an iconic feature for the community.
  The pier was added to the U.S. National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) on August 24, 1989, deeming the structure worthy of preservation by the federal government. The pier was reconstructed once more, removing some of the architectural features in 1992, including Neptune's Locker and a bait shop.
caption: The Pier from the air
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