Santa Monica Pier Santa Monica California | 350 Santa Monica Pier 350

http://www.santamonicablogs.com Come check out the awesome Santa Monica Pier in Santa Monica California. On September 9, 1909, after sixteen months of construction, the Santa Monica Municipal Pier opened to the public. Thousands of people swarmed onto the 1,600-foot-long concrete pier to enjoy a festive day of band concerts, swimming races and the novelty of walking above the waters of the Pacific Ocean. While originally built to satisfy the City's sanitation needs, the Pier quickly became a magnet for the fishing community and fueled the imagination of many local entrepreneurs.

Within just a few years, plans were put forth to build an amusement pier adjacent to the Municipal Pier. Famous carousel manufacturer Charles I.D. Looff arrived in February 1916, purchasing the land immediately south of the Municipal Pier for development.

Looff provided Santa Monicas north beach with its first successful amusements, including the Blue Streak Racer roller coaster. The Hippodrome housed the Piers Carousel, and the building still stands today with the distinction of being Santa Monicas first National Historic Landmark.

In 1918 Looff passed away, and his family continued to run the pier until 1923, when they sold it to the Santa Monica Amusement Company, a group of local businessmen intent on expanding the famed amusement mans dream. Their plans included expanding the Piers thrill rides, beginning with the removal and replacement of the Blue Streak Racer with a larger, faster coaster the Whirlwind Dipper in 1924. They also added one of the richest chapters in the Piers history the La Monica Ballroom.

Vast and ornate, the ballroom consumed so much of the Pier that, when viewed from the beach, it appeared as a monumental building floating magically above the sea. In 1948, famed country swing music star Spade Cooley televised his weekly TV program from this ballroom; it was the first time that a musical TV show was ever televised live. For more information on Santa Monica including Santa Monica hotels with discount hotel room rates visit the SoCal Beaches Magazine website at www.santamonicablogs.com.net

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