The History of Pismo Beach Wharf and Pier - Pismo Beach, CA - Signs of History on Waymarking.com

In 1881 the Pismo Beach Wharf was constructed just north of the end of Main Street (two blocks north of the current pier). It provided local farmers and ranchers a way to ship their products to market for less than the railroad was charging them. The wharf was damaged by a storm in December 1884. Heavy seas took 250 feet off the wharf, and dumped a pile driver, a donkey engine, and hundreds of sacks of

barley and beans into the water. The wharf was rebuilt and extended another. 100 feet. This pattern of storm damage and repairs continued for the life of the wharf. The end of the wharf came in January 1904, when a storm collapsed 100 feet of wharf into the surf. By 1905, all that remained of the wharf was a row of pilings across the beach. When later winter storms washed sand from the beach, tips of pilings would

poke out of the sand, showing where the wharf complex and Cafe Royal dance hall had once stood on the sand at Main Street.
As at as the 1980s, in the interest of public safety, each time an old piling poked its head out of the sand, public works crews cut it off deeper. No trace of the old wharf has been seen in recent memory.

Group that erected the marker: City of Pismo Beach Address of where the marker is located. Approximate if necessary: Pismo Pier Pismo Beach, CA URL of a web site with more information about the history mentioned on the sign: Not listed

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