Pacific City - San Mateo, CA
Posted by: 
DougK
N 37° 35.345 W 122° 19.668
10S E 559345 N 4160436
Pacific City was a short-lived amusement park at Coyote Point in the inner San Francisco Bay.
Waymark Code: WM63ME
Location: California, United States
Date Posted: 03/28/2009
Views: 7
From a
memorial plaque on the beach site:
"The idea to build an amusement park at this site was conceived by local civic leaders. This park would rival those at Coney Island and Atlantic City. The Pacific City site was 90 acres, stretching from Peninsula Avenue to Burlingame Avenue and the bay shoreline to Coyote Point. Construction began in early 1922. Pacific City cost nearly one million dollars. The park had a 3200-foot boardwalk along the sandy beach, 468-foot pleasure pier, white maple floor dance pavilion (largest in the West), giant Ferris wheel, fearsome roller coaster ride called "The Comet" (said to be the second largest in the USA and fastest in the West), and a colorful merry-go-round. Many eating establishments were available including the "Ocean Wave," an elegant restaurant located at pier's end.
On opening day, July 1, 1922, 27,000 visitors arrived. The attendance climbed to a record-setting 100,000 visitors on July 4, 1922. Later, cold winds and foul odors of sewage-polluted waters discouraged attendance. By the close of 1923, Pacific City's lights went out, the owners bankrupt. The dance pavilion remained as a roller skating rink until it was demolished in 1946. The last vestige of Pacific City, the pleasure pier, was removed in the mid 1950s."
The Burlingame Historical Society tells the story of Pacific City.