Place Archive

Huntington Beach

The 1,850-foot Huntington Beach Pier extends into the Pacific, hosting Ruby’s Diner at its end and serving as a focal point for local surf activity and fishing. Offshore, cargo ships trace a major West Coast shipping channel, highlighting the area’s industrial and recreational intersections.

Markers

Huntington Beach Photo Locations

3 geotagged photos

Photos

Ruby's Diner at the end of Huntington Beach Pier at sunset over the Pacific Ocean.
The Huntington Beach Pier extends 1,856 feet into the Pacific, making it one of the longest piers on the West Coast. The original wooden pier dates to 1904, but storms and fires destroyed earlier versions; the current concrete structure was completed in 1983 after a 1980s rebuild. Ruby's Diner, a Southern California-based burger chain founded in Newport Beach in 1982, has operated its outlet in the pier's original octagonal end café since 1996. That end building once housed a bait shop and snack stand before Ruby's retro-styled dining room took over the space.
Sunset over Huntington Beach, California, with surfers and cargo ships visible on the Pacific Ocean.
Huntington Beach holds the trademarked nickname "Surf City USA," a title it won in a 2006 legal settlement with Santa Cruz over rights to the phrase. The city's pier, rebuilt in 1992 after storm damage destroyed its predecessor, extends 1,856 feet into the Pacific and remains a hub for the surfing community that gave the town its identity. Cargo ships often anchor offshore here while waiting for berths at the Port of Los Angeles or Port of Long Beach, together the busiest container port complex in the United States.
Huntington Beach Pier silhouetted against sunset with palm trees on sandy beach.
Huntington Beach Pier reaches 1,850 feet into the Pacific, among the longest piers on the West Coast. The current concrete pier dates to 1914, replacing a wooden structure lost to storms, and was rebuilt after damage from a 1988 storm. A lifeguard tower sits near its base, part of the city's beach patrol.