Huntington Beach
City of Huntington Beach Restaurants
Chamber of Commerce
Huntington Beach incorporated in 1909 under its first mayor, Ed Manning. Its original developer was the Huntington Beach Company, a real-estate development firm owned by Henry Huntington, a railroad magnate after whom the city is named. The Huntington Company is still a major land-owner in the city. Huntington Beach remained a sleepy seaside town until the famous oil boom in the 1920’s.
The initial growth of the city began with the oil boom in 1920. This was the largest California oil deposit known at the time. Wells sprang up overnight and in less than a month the town grew from 1,500 to 5,000 people. After a final oil strike in 1953, the fire department began clearing out oil derricks within the city and along the coast to make room for the population explosion that began in the 1950’s. Beginning in the late 1950’s and continuing into the 1960’s and 1970’s, residents by the thousands moved into the City. Huntington Beach became the fastest growing city in the continental U.S. as housing tract after housing tract were built. In the 1970’s and 1980’s oil production rigs were concealed to improve the beach’s image.
Forty years ago, Donald Douglas Jr. acquired the bean fields across from the current U.S. Weapons Station bordering Bolsa Chica in HB. He began building the Douglas Aircraft Space Systems Center. The plant produced the upper stage of the Saturn V rocket that took the Apollo astronauts on their successful mission to the moon. Douglas aircraft became McDonnell Douglas, and in the 1990’s Boeing purchased the combined firms. Today Boeing is one of the largest employers in HB.
Saturn 5 Liftoff to the Moon
The Original "Dude"
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Duke Kahanamoku
In 1925, Duke Kahanamoku brought the sport of surfing to Huntington Beach and the Southern California shores. The city’s first surf shop, Gordie’s Surf Boards, opened in 1953. Six years later, the first U.S. Surfing Championships were held in Huntington Beach. The following year, the Surfing Championships were covered on television, which rocketed Huntington Beach’s international fame as a surfer’s paradise. In 2005, the USA Surf Team adopted Huntington Beach as its official home and the Association of Surfing Professionals-North America moved to the city.
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Huntington Pier
Huntington Beach Community Links
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