This is a circa 1959 post card of Pacific Ocean Park
Back in the 1950’s and 60’s, there was a seaside park in Santa Monica, California that tried to compete with rivals Disneyland and Knott’s Berry Farm and would have also competed against Six Flags Magic Mountain, which did not open until 1971. It was called Pacific Ocean Park and today, this park is very much forgotten by many.
Located in the Ocean Park neighborhood of Santa Monica, near the Pacific Ocean itself, Pacific Ocean Park or POP for short was a large theme park that had many ocean-themed attractions, including some that were similar to some of the attractions offered at rival Disneyland at the time. Some of the rides were even sponsored by corporations, just like Disneyland. Some of the notable attractions include: the Westinghouse Submarine Exhibit, the Union 76 Ocean Highway (similar to Autopia), Davy Jones Locker, The Flying Dutchman (similar to Pirates of the Caribbean), the Mahi-Mahi tower, the Sea Serpent, a large wooden rollercoaster, Mr. Dolphin, Mrs. Squid, Mr. Octopus, and Space Wheels, which was basically two Ferris wheels fused together.
POP was first opened in 1958, as a joint venture of CBS and Santa Anita, which also operates the Santa Anita racetrack in Arcadia, California. It had a promising start with about 20,000 visitors on opening day, then increased to 37,000 the next day, beating Disneyland for that day. By 1959, it had attracted 1.2 million visitors. Another notable thing about POP was its admission price. The all day adult admission for most attractions was just 90 cents (it would have probably cost a lot more today). Some rides required an additional fee.
A 1959 photo of the aerial skyway and the Sea Serpent rollercoaster at POP.
However, by the 1960’s, POP fell on hard times. CBS and Santa Anita had sold the park to John Morehead for $10 million. The new owner wanted POP to run as a small family park, instead of competing against Disneyland or Knott’s Berry Farm. Unfortunately, Morehead made some bad decisions that would led to the demise of POP. First, Morehead wanted a single price for all visitors coming to POP, which was $1.50 for adults and $1.00 for children. Second, the increased cost to operate the park, forced that park to skimp on maintenance. As a result, most rides tend to break down very often and the ocean currents only made it worse. Lastly, the neighborhood near POP deteriorated has beggars and the homeless rule the streets near the park. By 1965, attendance fell dramatically to only 600,000 visitors, then 400,000 the following year. In addition, the city decided to completely rebuild the Ocean Park neighborhood, making POP difficult for visitors to find.
By 1967, after only 9 years of operation, POP would close its doors for good and all of its assets were auctioned off in early 1968. The last decaying remnants of POP were destroyed in a series of fires in the early 1970’s. Today, the area where Pacific Ocean Park once stood is just another beach in the city of Santa Monica, with nothing to remind visitors that POP used to be there.
Click here for a map of Pacific Ocean Park.
Thanks to Jeffrey Stanton & Wikipedia for providing some of the information about Pacific Ocean Park.
L.A.'s Forgotten Treasures 