The sand wrote its own history. Just south of the pier in the 1930s, the original Muscle Beach opened — gymnasts, acrobats, and weightlifters working out in the open air, launching the physical-culture boom that reshaped American fitness before the scene migrated down the coast. And the beach itself — wide, state-run, and seemingly endless — became simply California's beach: the one the postcards, the songs, and the closing shots of a thousand films actually mean.
The waterfront made the city famous. A string of amusement piers rose along the bay in the resort decades, and of them all, the 1909 Santa Monica Pier is the one that survived — the municipal pier and its pleasure-pier twin, carrying the 1916 Looff Hippodrome, a National Historic Landmark whose hand-carved carousel horses still circle under the old dome. Pacific Park's rides came later; the wooden deck, the anglers at the rail, and the long walk over the water are the originals.
Why People Visit Santa Monica
Santa Monica rewards visitors with a rare mix — a historic amusement pier, the western end of Route 66, miles of state beach, and one of America's great walking downtowns, all on a bright Pacific bay. People come for the pier and the End of the Trail, and stay for the sunsets off the bluffs and the easy, salt-aired grace of California's beach city.
