On September 9, 1909, after sixteen months of construction, the Santa Monica Municipal Pier opened to the public. This was California Admission Day, and the thousands of people who swarmed onto the 1,600-foot-long wooden pier were in a holiday mood as they enjoyed a festive day of band concerts, swimming races and the novelty of walking above the waters of the Pacific Ocean.

The Pier's continuing ability to attract large crowds impressed Charles Looff, a pioneer amusement entrepreneur who had built Coney Island's first carousel in Brooklyn, New York and then opened a carousel factory nearby. Sensing vast potential for amusement attractions on the Southern California coast, he moved his operations to Long Beach in 1910, when he began to consider building a pleasure pier of his own.

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