Santa Monica's peerless pier - Santa Monica, California - Window on the West - Illustration

Sunset, July, 1993

Santa Monica Pier has long enjoyed a special place in the hearts of Southern Californians. During the '20s, upwards of 10,000 people a night would pack La Monica Ballroom to dance to big band jazz; thousands more would ride the roller coaster and visit amusements on the strand. But by the '50s, the pier had fallen into disrepair, and in 1973 the city council actually voted to tear it down.

Santa Monicans countered by passing a referendum to "Save our Pier Forever," which they did. In 1990, an addition to the pier's western end--bringing its length to 1,620 feet--was completed, and this summer its final tenant, a Mexican seafood restaurant, opened.