Huntington Beach Municipal Pier

Huntington Beach Municipal Pier reaches into the Pacific at the foot of Main Street. It was built in 1914 to replace a wooden pier damaged by storms, as part of an effort to make the city a major West Coast resort. Designed by Ernest Rothenberg and built by the Mercereau Bridge Company of Los Angeles, it was billed as the longest, highest and most artistically designed solid concrete municipal pier in the world. Reinforced concrete pilings were experimental at the time, since it was unknown how well they would resist seawater. Decorative touches include a recessed-panel balustrade and flared piling tops. In 1930 the pier was lengthened to 1,804 feet and five Art Deco buildings were added on its tees. Storms, including one in January 1988, removed sections, but about 84 percent of the original length, the 1914 cornerstone and three of the Art Deco buildings survive. The nomination finds it significant for its role in the city's growth and as the last surviving recreational concrete pier of its era in Southern California.