Manhattan Beach Pier
| Manhattan Beach Pier | |
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The municipal pier in downtown Manhattan Beach on a typical fall afternoon
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| Location | The west end of Manhattan Beach Boulevard, Manhattan Beach, California |
| Coordinates | 33°53′01″N 118°24′49″W / 33.88374°N 118.41361°WCoordinates: 33°53′01″N 118°24′49″W / 33.88374°N 118.41361°W |
| Built | 1920 |
| Architect | City Engineer A.L. Harris |
| Official name: Manhattan Beach State Pier | |
| Reference no. | 1018 |
 Location in Los Angeles County
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The Manhattan Beach Pier is a pier located in Manhattan Beach, California, on the coast of the Pacific Ocean. The pier is 928 feet (283 m) long and located at the end of Manhattan Beach Boulevard. An octagonal Mediterranean-style building sits at the end of the pier and houses the Roundhouse Marine Studies Lab & Aquarium. Surfers usually can be seen below the pier. The pier includes the "Volleyball Walk of Fame," featuring plaques dedicated to past winners of the Manhattan Beach Open beach volleyball tournament. The pier is popular with locals, tourists, photographers, and artists and for fishing. It offers sunsets and from the shore and hillside.
In 1897, the Potencia Company was incorporated to develop land in the area and proposed a seaside resort with wharves and piers. The area was named Potencia, but the city of Manhattan was incorporated in 1912 with the word "Beach" being added in 1927. The name was chosen by land developer Stewart Merrill.
A pier is believed to have been one of the first features built when the Manhattan Beach community was developed. Two wooden piers were built in 1901, one at Center Street (later renamed Manhattan Beach Boulevard) and one at Marine Avenue called Peck's Pier and Pavilion.
The Center Street Pier was 900 feet (270 m) long and pylons were made by fastening three railroad rails together and driving them into the ocean floor. It supported a narrow wooden deck and wave motor to generate power for the Strand lighting system, but sources disagree about whether the system worked. Part of the wave motor may still be buried in the sands at the shore end of the present pier. This "old iron pier", as it was called, was destroyed by a major storm in 1913.
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