This project took over three years to complete. With 232 pages and 39 piers, from the San Diego Border to the Oregon State Line. A unique and minimalist view of California piers. This book would be a great addition to any coffee table, library or art collection. 

Avila Beach Pier was first constructed in 1908 by the county of San Luis Obispo but because it was not well protected, it sustained major storm damage throughout the years and was constantly repaired after each event. President Teddy Roosevelt sent the American Navy’s “The Great White Fleet” on a worldwide diplomatic mission of peace, which included 20 port calls on six countries. On April 30, 1908, “The Great White Fleet” anchored offshore at Avila Beach. This event drew over two thousand local residents and businesses and schools were closed. Now, Avila Beach Pier is 1,685 feet long and is intended for tourist strolling as well as recreational fishing. It extends out from the center of the actual beach of Avila Beach and is surrounded by beach goers most months of the year.

The Cal Poly pier at Avila was donation from the oil company, Unocal, as an effort to improve the research of marine environments. This plan includes studying the ecosystems that were contaminated in 1988 and still remain effected today. The University received an $500,000 endowment in order to maintain and run the only steel pier in the nation. Cal Poly's pier at Avila has access to a wide variety of flora and fauna in the surrounding ocean community and presents many research opportunities for Cal Poly students. This is especially true for individuals in the marine science department. There are many ideas for future developments and projects that students will be able to be involved in.

The Harford Pier was developed in 1873 by John Harford to handle shipping commerce prior to train service arriving in San Luis Obispo. Smugglers also used the pier for transporting liquor under the cover of darkness. The Harford Pier is now home to recreational and commercial fishing, as well as two restaurants and a seafood market. Perhaps the most notable feature of the Harford Pier, which was previously used by horse-drawn cars, is that it's still open to vehicles.

The Balboa Pier is one of two piers located in the city of Newport Beach. It is located in a part of Newport Beach called the Balboa Peninsula.  The Balboa Pier was constructed in 1906 as a sister project of the Balboa Pavilion.

The pier is a popular fishing spot. The fish caught from the pier consist mostly of mackerel and flounder. Additionally, the pilings are home to a large population of starfish that feed on the large colonies of mussels growing there, and are easily spotted at low tide. Fishermen catching starfish by mistake are a relatively common sight.

In the 1980s, the first of Orange County's famous Ruby's Diner restaurants opened on the pier. The 1940s nostalgia-themed restaurant has since become a famous Orange County landmark.

Balboa Pier Park

The pier was heavily damaged in the severe El Niño storms of 1998, which also destroyed the famous diamond-shaped Aliso Pier in Laguna Beach. One of the pillars was damaged, causing a partial collapse of one corner. The wooden posts have since been reinforced with steel sheathing and braces to prevent further damage.

Belmont Veterans Memorial Pier 1,620 feet long, concrete.
15 39th Place, Long Beach, CA belmontpier.com

Belmont Shore, a community that functions as part of the city of Long Beach,  

Fact: Ties with Ventura Pier as 8th longest pier(s) in California.

Throughout the year the pier is a hub for free pier fishing. People come and spend the day off fishing, sometimes bringing their family with them.

When the community grew rapidly in 1906 as the fastest growing subdivision in Long Beach, the residents wanted a pier. Pleasure piers had sprung up along the coast providing entertaining fun, amusement rides, and places to stroll. The angry residents of Belmont Heights voted to become the City of Belmont in 1908, fed up about high taxes imposed by the City of Long Beach. What stopped them from becoming Belmont? The promise of a pier.

A year later they voted to rejoin Long Beach when city officials told Belmont residents they would get their pier. In 1915 the pier project was constructed, and today, the community still feels like its own place, though it pays taxes to Long Beach and looks to them again to fix the decaying pier.

The current pier was built in 1966, replacing a wooden pier that stood for over 50 years. The 1,620 foot-long concrete pier has been renovated in stages with portable restrooms now offering suitable accommodations for families that spend the day on the pier fishing and relaxing in the warm Southern California sunshine. Free public fishing is permitted as long as you stay on the pier to fish. 

A restaurant at the end of the pier serves soft drinks, sandwiches, candies and snacks. The pier is located at Ocean and 39th Place, Long Beach, CA.

This San Pedro pier extends out 1,200 feet into San Pedro Harbor. It is just inside the north end of the Los Angeles Harbor breakwater. The pier was built in 1969 and anglers can almost always expect to catch some mackerel, a few tom cod (white croaker) or maybe even a halibut or two. If you fish the far end of the pier, along the inside waters adjacent to the breakwater, you might even catch a rock frequenting species. There is parking near the pier and the pier is accessible to wheelchair riders. Bring your fishing pole, tackle, bait and a picnic lunch, and make an afternoon of it!

The pier itself is fairly new, having been rebuilt in the mid-1980s following storm damage which nearly destroyed the old pier. Luckily, the new pier is wood (which I always prefer) and although the pier is only 855-foot-long, it is rarely crowded with pier anglers unless there is a "big run" of fish present. The majority of fishermen here are boat anglers heading out to fish the nearby reefs. Some come to launch their own boats, some come to rent the boats which are available on the pier. Excellent fishing is found fairly close to the pier for several species.

The famous Cayucos pier was constructed in 1872 by Captain James Cass, the founder of Cayucos, and was then rebuilt and lengthened to 982 feet in 1876. The pier helped to establish Cayucos as a commercial port for ships sailing from Los Angeles and San Francisco to bring in passengers and goods such as butter, milk, lumber and other various goods. The pier boosted the Cayucos economy until the railroad and trucking put it out of business and it was no longer a working pier as of 1920. However, the pier continued to help the economy by bringing people from the San Joaquin Valley over for the Mediterranean climate and great fishing. Today, the pier remains a symbol of history in Cayucos and brings beauty and commercial life to the area.

After years of wear and tear by the ocean and limited maintenance, the Cayucos pier was closed for safety reasons on July 5, 2013. The pier was missing 14 crucial pilings and had dozens of unattached or weakened pilings that had been degraded by worms, large storms and waves. The County had the pier stabilized in December 2013 and scheduled it for rebuilding it October 2014. The entire project is estimated to cost around $4 million.

The San Luis Obispo County Board of Supervisors awarded a $1.7 million dollar contract to Morro Bay-based Associated Pacific Constructors Inc. Construction on the pier began in October 2014 and is currently underway in Cayucos. The project is predicted to finish in May 2015.

This pier is about 20 miles from the Oregon border.  It was the last pier in my California Pier Tour.  People tend use this pier for crabbing.  I noticed many more cages being thrown over the side of the pier than I saw fishing lines.  

This pier isn’t one of the largest, one of the most modern, or one of the most convenient piers in California, but it is one of the top piers in the state. Why? Because of the number of fish caught and the possibility of good-quality fish.  There are motel rooms available on the pier—the only pier on the California coast to offer such accommodations. 

Across the street from the concrete plant stands the remains of what used to be the Davenport pier.  The pier was built by John Pope Davenport to be used as a lumber pier.  Due to the amount of mud washing in from the Agna Puerca creek, the ships couldn’t tie up to port.  Due to a large storm the pier was destroyed.  The only remnants are the beams of the Davenport pier.

Santa Barbara’s only real storm of 2014 destroyed the last 100 feet of the pier at Gaviota State Park on March 1, and the structure — beloved by both those who fish from the wharf and the boat owners who use its hoist to access the remote reefs and surf breaks of the adjacent Hollister Ranch — has been closed ever since. And while State Parks is taking the diligent steps toward reopening the popular recreational resource, which is the only launching spot between the harbors of Santa Barbara and Port San Luis, don’t expect it to open anytime soon: The project could cost as much as $20 million, and even if that money was already in the bank, the project would take more than a year to complete.

The Goleta Beach Pier, which closed for a month after a March 2014 storm when it was badly beat up by waves and an unmoored sailboat, was reopened to the public on April 24. The 1,480-foot pier’s handrails and decking were repaired, and eight of its pilings were fully replaced.

The shaky yet scenic Romeo Pier at Pillar Point Harbor could be taken apart and removed in the near future.

Built in 1940, the wharf served as a place for Coastside fishermen to unload sardines and salmon for decades, long before the harbor breakwater was built. Today that age is really starting to show, and harbor officials say it could be only a matter of time before the pier falls apart on its own.

Floorboards and debris have reportedly blown off the structure during high winds, and officials believe some of the old fishery buildings at the end of the pier could soon topple. Many of the pilings have actually become dislodged from the ground and are now dangling from the pier.

The Hermosa Beach pier is located in the Southern California community of Hermosa Beach. It extends into the Pacific Ocean.

In 1904 the first pier was built. It was constructed entirely of wood even to the pilings and it extended five hundred feet out into the ocean. The pier was constructed by the Hermosa Beach Land and Water Company. In 1913 this old pier was partly washed away and later torn down and a new one built to replace it. This pier was built of concrete 1,000 feet (300 m) long, and paved with asphalt its entire length. Small tiled pavilions were erected at intervals along the sides to afford shade for fishing and picnic parties. A bait stand was built eventually out on the end. Soon after, about 1914, an auditorium building was constructed; it has housed various enterprises and at present the public rest rooms, the Los Angeles Life Guard Service, and the local branch of the Los Angeles County Public Library occupy rooms in the building. This pier is municipally owned.

The pier's frontage has changed in appearance over the years and electric train lines used to run along the coastline.[1]

It's hard to imagine Surf City USA without the iconic Huntington Beach Pier. Maybe that's because the pier and the city came into existence together all the way back in 1904.

Thanks to historic surf-riding demonstrations in the waves alongside the pier by legendary Hawaiian watermen George Freeth and Duke Kahanamoku, this landmark is an integral part of Huntington Beach surfing lore.

Rebuilt after two storms in the 1980s, today's pier stretches 1,850 feet into the Pacific Ocean, making it one of the longest piers on the West Coast.  It's the symbolic heart of Huntington Beach, a place where locals and visitors come out to watch surfers and savor the splendor of the coast - especially at sunset. 

The pier is located on a long sandy beach, has short finger jetties to the north, and extends out 1,491 feet into water that is nearly 20 feet deep. Several fish attractants exist under and around the pier. Pilings have a heavy growth of mussels and an artificial, half-moon shaped, rock reef was constructed near the end of the pier in 1964. Later, after a barge accidentally spilled a large load of boulders, an additional, although unplanned, reef was added to the mix. Fish here are the normal southern California sandy-shore species but mixed in are species attracted by the reefs and the deeper and calmer water found at the far end of the pier.

There are many piers in California, but only two in Malibu—one private Paradise Cove Pier and the public Malibu Pier. Much to the delight of the public, the Malibu public pier re-opened several years ago after needing repairs and taking quite some time to get funded and fixed. The shining, two building pier sits in the blue Pacific and from the air looks so inviting. On closer look as a seagull arrives from the Channel Island, swooping down to investigate the food offerings, he finds that there are fisherman with bait that make for some tasty snacks on this free fishing pier.

Paradise Cove in Malibu is a public beach in front of a privately-owned facility by the same name. The property and the restaurant has surfboards all around and the outside seating area has wooden lounge chairs, palm trees, and thatched umbrellas that almost has a Hawaiian feel. Ironically though with all the surfboards around the owners banned surfing for years until the California Coastal Commission forced them to allow it.

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.

Engineer A.L. Harris developed the concept of the circular end for less exposure and damage to the pilings by the waves. The pier was completed and dedicated on July 5, 1920.  The next version built was a cement pier with a rounded end and it was 928 feet (283 m) long. Octagonal house that now holds a lunch restaurant was completed in 1922.  In 1928, a 200-foot (61 m) wooden extension was added but it was destroyed in a storm in 1940.   In 1991 the pier was restored to its 1920s appearance with a dedication ceremony in 1992.

In 1928 the pier was extended out 200 feet (at no cost to the city) when a Captain Larsen of Redondo Beach offered to pay for an extension in exchange for the rights to run a shoreboat between the pier and his barge Georgina. On January 9, 1940, 90 feet (27 m) of the extension were ripped away during a winter storm. The extension was never repaired and the remaining section was swept away in February 1941.

In 1946 the pier and adjoining beach were deeded over from the city of Manhattan Beach to the state. During the next four decades the pier would remain a focus of beachfront activity, but Mother Nature and old age took their toll and by the 1980s the pier was in sad shape and in need of renovation.

Restoration took place in the early 1990s with a focus on retention of the old time appearance, much like Pier 7 in San Francisco. The original pier had to be fixed as old age and decay required extensive repair, and in fact made it unsafe by the late 1980s (when a jogger was injured by falling concrete).

In 1995, the pier was declared a state historic landmark  It is the oldest standing concrete pier on the West Coast. It is managed by the County of Los Angeles, Department of Beaches and Harbors. Correction: The Pier is managed by the City of Manhattan Beach Public Works

The Newport Pier is one of two municipal piers located within the city of Newport Beach, California, at the center of the Balboa Peninsula. It is 1,032 feet (314.6 m) long

In 1922, the pier was remodeled by the City of Newport and remained a shipping terminus until 1939 when it was destroyed in a hurricane.

The current pier was reconstructed on the same site in 1940.

The Ocean Beach Municipal Pier, one of the most visited landmarks in San Diego County, was officially christened and introduced to eager San Diegans on July 2, 1966.

Although the pier quickly became a popular destination for locals and tourists, its original purpose was for fishing. Local Ocean Beach fishermen needed a way to prevent their fishing lines and lures from getting tangled in the vast kelp and rock beds that lie near the surface of the water near the shores. With the construction of the OB Pier, anglers are able to fish in 25-30 feet of water, avoiding most of the shoreline kelp and enabling them to catch species of fish that live in deeper waters. The pier extends 1971 feet into the ocean and is the second longest pier on the west coast and purported to be the longest concrete pier in the world. Its unique T-shape at the end of the pier adds 360 feet to the south and 193 feet to the north.

At 1,942 feet, the historical Oceanside Pier is one of the longest wooden piers on the West Coast.  Take a leisurely stroll out over the Pacific Ocean, watch the surfers ride a wave, fishermen catch a fish, or grab a bite to eat at the famous Ruby’s Diner located at the end of the pier.

At the entrance of the Pier is the Amphitheater which hosts many musical and cultural performances.

Pacifica Pier is a fishing pier in Pacifica, in western San Mateo County, California. The L shaped pier spans out into the Pacific Ocean for a quarter mile from the City of Pacifica. Its official name is the Rev. Herschell Harkins Memorial Pacifica Pier.

The quarter mile pier was built in 1973 as part of the city of Pacifica's sewer system. It carries a 28-inch (710 mm) pipe that continues one quarter mile offshore through which sewage was pumped into the Pacific Ocean. This ended with the creation of a new water treatment facility in 2004.

The pier has been closed on occasion for both repairs (1993) and during high surf.

Since the pier was no longer being used to pump wastewater into the Pacific Ocean, its primary purpose has been for fishing. The pier is famous for salmon runs where hundreds of salmon are caught in a single day. When this occurs there is a frenzy of activity where every available space is used to catch fish and hundreds of anglers are fishing shoulder to shoulder.

Back in 1881, Pismo's original wharf opened for business. The new pier that replaced the original was built in 1924 and was much longer than it is today. Some can remember driving cars along its length, then backing out, or using the tight turn around at the end. It is said that it extended out far enough that Navy ships could tie up and the men could come ashore. The pier has sustained damage several times, but a major storm tore up the south side of the sea wall and about 500 feet off the end of the pier early in its existence. It was never put back. After a 1983 storm washed out most of the wharf, it was rebuilt in its present configuration in 1985-86

The pier sits in the Point Arena cove. Point Arena itself juts out to the west (and is in fact the closest point in the continental United States to Hawaii). The old wooden pier, destroyed during the winter of 1982-'83, was replaced with a spiffy 322-foot-long steel and concrete deal with a boat launch and hoist. Offshore is some of the world's deepest waters in the Mendocino Trench; and the underwater Arena Canyon and Navarro Canyon begin directly out from the Point. The cove itself is 20-100 feet deep, sits southeast of the point and is protected somewhat from northwest winds and storms. The entire cove has a rocky bottom with no sand or gravel, a small stream runs into the ocean to the left of the pier, and there are reefs to both the south and north of the pier. 
 

The Port Hueneme Pier was originally constructed at its present location in 1956 by the Hueneme Sanitary District as a construction trestle used for laying a sewer outfall pipeline. The pier was 650 feet long and upon completion of the outfall was opened for public use. The pier was a popular fishing spot for many years until the Army Corps of Engineers commenced their bi-annual beach replenishment project that resulted in a larger beach and a pier that no longer reached the ocean. 

 In 1968 the City removed approximately 300 feet of the "old" pier and constructed a new 900 foot extension that resulted in a pier that was 1,250 feet long extending well out into the ocean.

ts official name is "Municipal Pier", and it has also been called the "Endless Pier". Earlier versions were known as "Pleasure Pier" and "Horseshoe Pier"

In 1988, the pier was severely battered by two winter storms, and on May 27 it burned to the waterline due to an electrical short circuit. The pier's modern reinforced concrete version was completed in 1995, and has brought back the appeal to Redondo Beach's business district ever since.

The San Clemente Pier is 1,296 feet in length and was rebuilt out of wood in 1985. The original San Clemente pier was built in 1928 spanning 1,200 ft. In 1939 and again 1983 heavy storms severely damaged the pier making it necessary to rebuild the structure. San Clemente Pier is currently home to Fisherman's Restaurant & Bar located at the entrance of the pier. The pier has always been a popular place for surfing, sunsets, and relaxing at the beach.

San Simeon Pier at William Randolf Hearst State Beach in San Simeon, California is not particularly long, but it is enjoyed by locals who seek to fish free. It also provides a great, breezy stroll on a sunny summer afternoon when you are driving up or down the California Coast on Highway 1.

You will find the pier south of Hearst Castle on the Central Coast. The beach next to the pier is popular for surfers, kayakers, kids camps in the summer, picnics, and enjoyable diversions. The pier is accessed from the park above the beach. There's a kayak and body board concession opened during the summer season, so you try your hand at ocean sports.

Ranking as the 25th longest pier in California for over the ocean piers, it is approx. 850 feet long. The current wooden pier was built around 1983.

The current wharf was built in 1914, the last of six built on the site, and is operated by the City of Santa Cruz Parks and Recreation Office. The wharf is situated between Main Beach (which is adjacent to the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk) and Cowell's Beach, on the westside of Santa Cruz City. With a length of 2,745 feet (836.68 m), it is the longest pier on the West Coast of the United States

The Santa Cruz Wharf opened on December 5, 1914.  The original purpose of building the wharf was for shipping potatoes to San Francisco for mining camps in the Sierra Nevada during the Gold Rush.  After the innovation of motor vehicles and improved land routes, the Wharf’s primary focus changed to be the base of the north Monterey Bay fishing industry.  By the 1950s as Monterey Bay’s sardine and other fish populations dwindled, nearly every family owned a vehicle and had money to spend on recreation. As a result, the Santa Cruz Wharf became predominately a recreational destination. Today, the wharf is still a popular tourist attraction.

Santa Monica has had several piers over the years; however, the current Santa Monica Pier is actually two adjoining piers that long had separate owners. The long, narrow Municipal Pier opened September 9, 1909,[4] primarily to carry sewer pipes beyond the breakers,[5] and had no amenities. The short, wide adjoining Pleasure Pier to the south, a.k.a. Newcomb Pier, was built in 1916.

In 1983, the Santa Monica Pier experienced a significant loss. On January 27, there were reported swells of 10-feet during this winter storm. When the storm was over, the lower deck of the pier was destroyed. The City of Santa Monica began repairs on March 1, 1983, when another storm rolled in. A crane which was being used to repair the west end was dragged into the water and acted as a battering ram against the pilings. Over one-third of the Pier was completely destroyed.

The original Scripps Pier, built in 1915-1916, was a 1,000-foot-long facility for acquiring clean seawater for the campus laboratories and the public aquarium.

Ellen Browning Scripps provided all of the money ($36,000) for its construction. Scripps Pier, well built for its day, of reinforced concrete pilings and a wooden deck survived many years and storms, but extensive repairs were made to Scripps Pier in 1926 and 1946.

Major concerns about the soundness of the old Scripps Pier finally led to its total replacement. The new one, which is 1,090 feet long, was built of reinforced concrete alongside the original Scripps Pier, which was then removed.

Only a few piers have truly unique features and this pier is one of them. The end of this wooden 500-foot-long pier connects to the old cement ship Palo Alto, a bad idea turned good. The ship was designed for the U.S. Navy in World War I but was not completed until the war was over. She sat at her dock in Oakland until 1929 when she made her only voyage -- to her present spot. The 435-foot-long ship was filled with water, a pier was built from the beach to the ship, and the ship was turned into a floating attraction (although she didn't really float). A cafe was constructed above deck, the main deck was turned into a dance floor, a heated swimming pool was added and carnival booths lined the back of the ship. Within several years, the company that owned the ship went bankrupt. Later, winter storms damaged the already paralyzed craft. Although the ship was a bad idea for the company's investors, it has turned out to be a bonanza for anglers.

The original pier was built in 1906. And not only that, it is considered to be the second longest wooden pier in California reaching out at 1,865 feet. The pier was actually torn in half 1939 and it was again severely damaged in 1983 along with other California piers.

In 1872 construction was completed on what had just become the longest deep-water pier between Los Angeles and San Francisco. Named for its builder, local lumberman John P. Stearns, the wharf served the passenger and freight shipping needs of California's South Coast for over a quarter century. 
Since its beginning, Stearns Wharf has had its share of natural and economic disasters, from the big earthquake in 1925 to a fire in 1973 which caused its closing. The wharf stayed closed for six years until restorations began, and in the fall of 1981 it finally reopened. Yet another fire in the winter of 1998 devastated the last hundred and fifty feet of the wharf, including Moby Dick Restaurant. Though the rest of the wharf remained open during this period, the rebuilding took over two years. The new Stearns Wharf stands today as Santa Barbara's most visited landmark.

In December 1944, Earl Hallmark (1900 – 1958) bought all of the property owned by Hammond Lumber Company in Trinidad, including all of the waterfront property between Ocean Avenue and Trinidad Head.  It took only three months for a very determined Earl to acquire all of the permits he would need to build a pier, including the lease from the State’s Land Commission for the bay.

Earl Hallmark was fortunate to find superior pilings that were scheduled to be shipped to the Philippines as part of the war effort. But since the war was nearly over, he was able to acquire them for his project.

He attempted to get bids to build a pier from contractors all along the West Coast, but all of them said the rock was too hard to drive pilings. He then talked to Tom Hull, a local contractor in Eureka, who believed he could drive the pilings in with steel points. However, the rock was too hard, so his next step was to remove the steel plates and sharpen the pilings themselves. It was a revolutionary idea, and it worked!

Along the southern portion of the beach, at the end of Washington Boulevard, is the 'Venice Fishing Pier'. A 1,310-foot (400 m) concrete structure, it first opened in 1964, was closed in 1983 due to El Niño storm damage, and re-opened in the mid-1990s. On December 21, 2005, the pier again suffered damage when waves from a large northern swell caused part of it to fall into the ocean.

The pier remained closed until May 25, 2006, when it was re-opened after an engineering study concluded that it was structurally sound.

Since 1872, the Ventura Pier has stood as a symbol of the region's rich history and natural resources. Once the cornerstone of Ventura County's agricultural, construction and oil trade, today the Ventura Pier is a favorite attraction for fishing, picnics, sunset strolls and beautiful views of Ventura County's coastline and the Channel Islands.