Entrance to The Pike in Long Beach, 1960. U.S. Navy photo from U.S.S. Helena (CA-75) 1960-1961 Cruise Book availalbe from Navysite.de.
When the amusement pier opened in Long Beach in 1902, a roller-coaster and other rides had already been operating at the location. By late 1954, the Long Beach Pike was the leading amusement attraction in the Los Angeles area and the fifth largest in the United States. The Pike drew tens of thousands of summer visitors to its roller coaster, merry-go-round, bathhouse, two pavilions, band shell, and many other smaller attractions. At its peak, it featured 218 concessions.
Looking west from Pine Avenue Pier, circa 1890. Amusement rides already operated along the Long Beach waterfront prior to the 1902 opening of The Pike. Note the tall wooden ride in the foreground and the roller-coaster in the distance. From California Historical Society Collection, courtesy of USC Digital Library.
The Pike in Long Beach with visitors, circa 1910. From California Historical Society Collection, courtesy of USC Digital Library.
The Pike in Long Beach crowded with visitors, 1922. From California Historical Society Collection, courtesy of USC Digital Library.
Postcard showing Downtown Long Beach and waterfront, 1937. The Pike juts into water at bottom. From Los Angeles Almanac Collection.
The year 1955 was a watershed for The Pike. That year, Disneyland opened. The Pike quickly began losing visitors to the instantly popular newly-opened theme park, just 17 miles away in Anaheim. The new "summer-long county fair" amusements introduced at Knott's Berry Farm in Buena Park also drew visitors away. Walt Disney was said to have used The Pike as an example of the seedy amusement zone atmosphere that he meant for Disneyland to replace. Ironically, Disney's Paradise Pier (now Pixar Pier) in the California Adventure Park was an attempt to replicate the seaside arcade atmosphere of the Pike. By 1966, the Pike's famous Cyclone Racer Roller Coaster (larger than New York's Coney Island Cyclone) had closed. What was left of the original Pike finally closed in 1979.
In 2003, after decades of waterfront redevelopment, Long Beach reopened a new (although less exciting) version of The Pike called The Pike at Rainbow Harbor, featuring restaurants, shops, movie theaters, and a Ferris wheel.
Tribute to the Cyclone Racer Rollercoaster once operating at The Pike in Long Beach. Los Angeles Almanac photo.
