{"nrhp_refnum":"78000753","name":"Mission Beach Roller Coaster","other_names":["Mission Beach Roller Coaster National Historic Landmark","Belm"],"category":"structure","location":{"address":"3000 Mission Blvd.","address_restricted":false,"city":"San Diego","county":"San Diego County","state":"CA","lat":32.77112539250004,"lon":-117.25150169849172,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1978-12-27","is_nhl":true,"nhl_designated_date":"1987-02-27","areas_of_significance":["Community Planning and Development","Engineering","Entertainment/Recreation","Social History"],"significance_levels":["national","state"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A wooden roller coaster known as the \"Earthquake\" or Giant Dipper, at 3000 Mission Boulevard in Mission Beach, San Diego, built in 1925 in the Belmont (Mission Beach) Amusement Park by Prior and Church.","why_significant":"The nomination calls it one of two remaining older-generation wooden-scaffolded coasters on the West Coast and an excellent example of its type. It is also the most visible remnant, with the Bath House, of John D. Spreckels' Mission Beach Amusement Center. It reflects the recreational spirit of the Mission Beach community he developed.","narrative":"Rising 75 feet above the sand strip between the Pacific Ocean and Mission Bay, the Earthquake roller coaster in Mission Beach, San Diego, was built in 1925 by Prior and Church, who also built the Venice coaster. Its wooden frame of cross-braced timber posts, flying buttresses and about 2,800 feet of steel-rail track covers roughly 100 by 500 feet. It opened on July 4, 1925, as part of the Mission Beach Amusement Center developed by sugar heir John D. Spreckels to stimulate real estate sales and bring riders to his streetcar line. The center once held a bath house, ballroom, skating rink, fun house and carousel; by 1977 only the coaster and the Bath House remained. The coaster is described as one of only two older wooden-scaffolded coasters left on the West Coast, and one of five in the western United States. The nomination argued for keeping it as a landmark of the community's recreational heritage.","period_of_significance":"1925","architect_builder":"Prior and Church","architectural_style":null,"criteria":[],"status_note":"Described as an operable roller coaster retaining structural integrity, in good condition and unaltered; the city had decided to demolish it for a passive park at the time of nomination.","vacant_flag":null,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:55:31.965042-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_CA/78000753.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/78000753/24a395e767-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/78000753/24a395e767-1600.webp","licence":"Public domain","author":"Greg Bulla, www.gregbulla.com GB (talk)","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:MissionBeachRollercoaster_640pixels.JPG\" rel=\"noopener\">Greg Bulla, www.gregbulla.com GB (talk)</a>, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:MissionBeachRollercoaster_640pixels.JPG"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/123860925","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Giant_Dipper_(Belmont_Park)","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q1522717"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/california/san-diego-county/mission-beach-roller-coaster-78000753/"}