The Pike
The Pike was an amusement zone in Long Beach, California. The Pike was founded in 1902 along the shoreline south of Ocean Boulevard with several independent arcades, food stands, gift shops, a variety of rides and a grand bath house. It was most noted for the Cyclone Racer, a large wooden dual-track roller coaster, built out on pilings over the water.
The Pike operated under several names. The amusement zone surrounding the Pike, Silver Spray Pier, was included along with additional parking in the post-World War II expansion; it was all renamed Nu-Pike via a contest winner's submission in the late 1950s, then renamed Queen's Park in the late 1960s in homage to the arrival of the Queen Mary ocean liner in Long Beach. 1979 was the year Long Beach city council refused to renew the land leases and demolished all of the structures and attractions it could that weren't trucked away. The Pike museum is located in Looff's Lite-A-Line at 2500 Long Beach Blvd.
History
The first major attraction to the seashore at Long Beach was recreational bathing, long before trains and cars, when the only roads were dusty rutted paths littered with horse manure. Residents of Southern California escaped the summer heat by crowding the shore and beaches to enjoy the cool ocean breeze and the Pacific Ocean chilled by the Aleutian current. With the surge of health-conscious new residents and the ease of access to a beach near the services of local merchants, Willmore City became a destination. In 1888, Long Beach Land and Water Company bought William E. Willmore's failed plat of Bixby's Rancho Los Cerritos and changed the name to Long Beach in 1892. The amusement zone began in 1902, as a beach and grand bath house resort at the Long Beach terminus of the Red Car interurban commuter electric railroad system Pacific Electric Railway southern expansion from Los Angeles. A grand bath house was constructed at the shore, scheduled to open Independence Day, 1902. The grand opening of the bath house, known later as The Plunge, coincided with the inaugural run of the Pacific Electric Railway Long Beach Line on the morning of July 4, 1902 – which established service connecting communities along the line to offices and shopping in downtown Los Angeles as well as bringing bathers and families south to Pacific Ocean shoreline recreation.Long Beach Municipal Pier
Stretching Pine Avenue south from Ocean Avenue into the Pacific Ocean, the Long Beach Municipal Pier had an upper and lower deck to a service building on the end. Sheltered at the mouth of the Los Angeles River, the public pier served a range of purposes, primarily for trade and commerce, servicing freight and passenger shipping, but also served anglers fishing as well as pedestrian strolling. A simple wooden boardwalk was laid directly at the top of the sand west along the shoreline connecting the pier to the new bathhouse.Pike, a simple boardwalk
Pike was the name of the wooden boardwalk connecting the Pine St. incline of the Long Beach Pier west along the shoreline to The Plunge bath house. It gradually grew in length, was widened, and later poured in concrete and illuminated with strings of electric bulbs as The Walk of a Thousand Lights, the midway anchoring the widely dispersed attractions and The Pike changed context from the original wooden boardwalk to the entire amusement zone. As it grew from a simple beach access made of planks to a midway of concessions, it included The Plunge bathhouse, Sea Side Studio souvenir photography, the Looff carousel, McGruder salt water taffy, pitch and skill games, pony rides, goat carts, fortune teller, weight guesser and a variety of dark and thrill rides, amusements and attractions large and small.Rainbow Pier
In the early 1920s, the first Long Beach Municipal Auditorium was constructed on of tidal zone landfill located south of today's intersection of Ocean Boulevard and Long Beach Boulevard. After the construction of the auditorium, there were problems created by storms and coastal erosion in the area. In order to protect the auditorium from these problems, a horseshoe-shaped breakwater with a roadway along its crest was constructed around it, connecting Pine St. and the Long Beach Pier eastward to Linden St. Because its shape resembled a rainbow, it was named Rainbow Pier.For a short time, the Long Beach Pier and Rainbow Pier both existed, sharing combined shore access at the Pine street incline.
In the late 1940s, the City of Long Beach began filling in the water area enclosed by Rainbow Pier, creating Rainbow Lagoon and Wilmore Park, additional public trust lands upon which a larger, more modern auditorium was constructed. Filling of the shoreline area continued in the late 1950s and early 1960s with the Tidelands Filling Project.
Nu-Pike
In 1954 there were 218 amusements in the park, but later in the decade the zone began to face stiff competition from Knott's Berry Farm and then Disneyland and the rough, free-for-all reputation of The Pike may have discouraged some families from attending. In the 1950s, the area underwent another face-lift. Advertising with coupons appealing to families appeared in local newspapers. A Kiddieland collection of carnival flat rides, a "Bud" Hurlbut miniature train and petting zoo were installed on the silted-in new sand and public restrooms were built of concrete and cinder-block near a new picnic area, giving it a post-World War II modern look, and the park was renamed "Nu-Pike" as result of a write-in naming contest.Queen's Park
In 1969, the name changed to Queen's Park, to coincide with the public opening of the historical ocean liner RMS Queen Mary, which the city had purchased as a combination tourist attraction and hotel. The park retained this name until closing and demolition. Most locals continued calling it The Pike.Elmer McCurdy
In 1976, during the filming of The Six Million Dollar Man, someone spotted a mannequin in the corner on the ride Laff in the Dark. When he reached for the arm and it shockingly came off, it was then noticed that this was no dummy but a man. The man was later identified as Elmer McCurdy, an outlaw in the early 20th century who had been shot by police. McCurdy had no living relatives, so the undertaker took the body and asked the public to put a nickel in its mouth to see the corpse. A carnival runner turned up and claimed McCurdy was his long lost relative. It then made its way across carnivals and amusement parks until people forgot it was an actual mummy. The body was returned to Oklahoma, where it is buried.Attractions
Entertainment and shows
The Plunge
A grand bath-house was constructed at the shore and was scheduled to open on Independence Day, 1902, the day on which the Pacific Electric Railroad established service connecting communities along the line to offices and shopping in Downtown Los Angeles and bringing bathers and families south to shoreline recreation. Admission was charged for use of the clear, 'vacuumed', indoor freshwater pool, changing-rooms, and waterslide, all of which lay beyond a colonnade and sundeck. An interior balcony surrounding the pool and an outdoor one facing the beach offered people-watching on reclining lounges. The name was later changed to The Plunge. When it closed, it was converted to the Strand Theater.Lido Ballroom
Until 1902, primary access to bathing was over unpaved roads by horse and buggy. A large livery and stables had been built to care for the animals of the bathers. Opening the Pacific Electric Big Red Car line to Long Beach diminished the importance of the livery, which closed as the automotive culture of Southern California developed. It was converted into a skating rink in 1906, then a dance hall by 1911, named The Majestic, featuring big bands. In the 1950s, it changed hands and was renamed The Lido Ballroom.Live and motion picture theaters
Long Beach downtown featured several theaters, many of which were along the Walk of 1000 Lights. Starting east of Pine Street with access at Ocean Blvd. and The Pike was Lowes, known for first-run major releases. Several small shop-front theaters, exhibiting side-shows and independent films, came and went along the Walk of a Thousand Lights, but one big one, the Virginia, was later converted into the dark ride Whispering River. The Strand Theater offered a double feature, after being converted to a picture house when The Plunge closed.A Pike attraction from 1909 to 1930 was the Wall of Death. Reckless Ross Millman, among America's first motorcycle daredevils, built a motordrome near the Jack Rabbit Racer.
Band shell
The Long Beach Municipal Band played most Sundays and holidays. The band was led byHerbert L. Clarke, who had been a member of John Philip Sousa's Band.