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Building History

This fishing pier in Seal Beach, CA, was erected originally in 1906. The Guy M. Rush Company undertook alterations to it during 1913-1914 to help transform the structure into part of an amusement park complex. At this time along CA's coast, real estate developers sometimes built piers, plunges, auditoria and amusement parks to attract tourists and land buyers to their newly-platted beachside communities. Rush hired the Mercer Construction Company to reinforce the pier's pilings. According to the Santa Ana Registerof 02/16/1914: "...The style of the pier was to be match the proposed cement promenade that was to extend along the entire beachfront." (See Michael Dobkins, "This Date In Seal Beach History," accessed 06/08/2016.)

Alteration

The only offically-recorded tropical storm to make landfall along CA's coastline, came ashore on 09/25/1939 severing the Seal Beach Pier in two. (Other piers in Southern CA were also damaged or destroyed during this remarkable 1939 event, including the Newport Pier, San Clemente Pier and the Point Magu Pier.) Seal Beach voters passed a bond issue paying for a portion of the pier's repair cost. A Work Project Administration (WPA) grant also financed some of the construction which was expected to cost $100,000. The project was complete before

PCAD id: 9550