Santa Monica Pier

The pier traces back to two separate structures, the Municipal Pier that opened on September 9, 1909 to carry a sewer outfall line, and the adjoining Pleasure Pier built in 1916, which eventually merged under shared management. The Looff Hippodrome building on the pier, listed on the National Register of Historic Places, still houses a hand-carved carousel built in 1922 by the Philadelphia Toboggan Company.

Pacific Park, the small amusement park with the solar-powered Ferris wheel, opened in 1996 as the pier's first major new attraction since the Great Depression era. A sign near the pier's entrance marks it as the symbolic western terminus of Route 66, and the nonprofit Heal the Bay runs a small aquarium underneath the pier focused on local marine life.

The pier's mix of a free boardwalk, an aquarium, and paid rides makes it easy to visit on almost any budget, letting a family window-shop and watch the ocean for free before deciding whether to add rides. Signs and displays around the aquarium are visual and hands-on, which helps visitors who are still learning English.