Above is a fantastic image of the Pike from its 1910 heyday, when a day at the seaside in Long Beach was an occasion for tailored suits and lavish, floral hats. In the early 1900s, it was boom times in Southern California, and the place to be on the weekend was the boardwalk in Long Beach. The Pike, commonly known as “the Coney Island of the West,” was an amusement zone that rose around the terminus of an electric street car line from downtown Los Angeles. Families streamed in by the hundreds for rides, carnival games, fortune tellers, and cool ocean air, while young men — including throngs of sailors on shore leave — sought out peep shows and gambling.

In time, however, the boardwalk’s allure began to fade. A watershed moment came in 1955, when Disneyland opened a few towns over. The Pike became yesterday’s news. After a few failed attempts to revive the old glory days, the area ultimately gave way to an outlet complex with a Gap, H&M, and Restoration Hardware. 

Read more: Los Angeles Almanac | KCET

(The colors in the above image were added by the Swedish photo colorist Sanna Dullaway. You can see a large version of the photo here, and a few close-ups at Dullaway’s Instagram: @sannadullaway)

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