The Pike

This place was magic. 12 years old and i remember getting of of the R.T.D. at ocean and pine walking that steep street then turn to the right in to that cold and dark archway. Then walk past the arcade on the left and in to the bright warm sunlight of the pike. The hot sun warmed me up and i had the sound of rollercoaster and people screaming and laughing. The sounds and the feel of the sun on my face was magic. We have lost a beautiful thing that could have inspired our children to be there best. Now all they have is social media🤔

My big sister used to take me and my nieces to nu-pike every so often back in the 60's. It seemed so much more exciting than Disneyland (to me anyway). It was the real deal. I still remember the Laff in the Dark ride with the laughing couple and the house of mirrors...

As a kid growing up in the 60's every summer me and my best friend used to take a bus from Wilmington to Downtown L.B. to spend the day at the Pike, it was called Nu-Pike back then though. We'd get there before the place opened at 10 a.m. and stay all day and into the night before taking the last bus back at 11 p.m. I still remember us riding the Cyclone Racer especially after dark when the two tracks were being used. What a thrilling rollercoaster at 35 cents per ride.

Good memories remember going to dance at the lido with my sis ,Cuz,and aunt back in the 60s to be young again good times

When I was a kid I'd ride the PE train into Downtown L.B. and walk down Pine St to the Pike in the late 50's to early 60's. Downtown was alive back then, full of movie theatres, sailors and bars. They used to have Roller Games at the L.B. arena.

Thank You, I laughed when I read the comment that there were too many sailors at the Pike, that's the reason my Aunt used to take us kids there! I saw the old hospital where I was born In one of the pictures, it's now long gone. My Grandfather's younger teenage brother was killed on a roller coaster at the Pike. I think it was an old figure eight coaster and it happened in the late 20's, he stood up in the car and was struck in the head by the superstructure.

Thanks,For The Ride Down Memory Lane..That,Tat Shop Had An Artist Named Leroy..He,Did A Tat On My Rt Arm..Miss,The Pike...

I use to go in the sixties. My dad had an office in the Jergins Trust Bldg. which overlooked the Queen Mary and the Pike. The Jergins Bldg. is long gone as well.....Like another world....

I got my first tattoo at the pike. Yeah, a bunch of nostalgic oldsters. I think of the Pike and Pacific Ocean Park quite a bit in my old age.

I was born in 2004 dam I don’t remember Long Beach like this it was more better than the city looks like now

Thanks for the photos. I spent a lot of time at the pike in the 60´s. I remember the cyclone racer, the bumper cars,the diving bell and all the arcades....great memories

Oh YES! What wonderful memories ~ not only from Mom when she took the red car down there but also from friends & who I went there many a time. I started my Kewpie collection from the shop in the middle of the fairway & will forever remember the photograph in the booth (also in the middle) from the turn of the century. What a MaGical place it was!

Remember going there in the 50s.

I loved going to The Pike as a kid in the late 60's early 70's. It was kinda seedy back then with a whole bunch sailors on shore leave, the tattoo parlors, peep show theaters, pawn shops, and adult movie theaters on Ocean Blvd. My dad just steered me towards the weird and fun attractions like the arcades,fun house, house of mirrors, and the wax museum, (where they eventually discovered a real Egyptian mummy when they were closing it down, that was recently returned to the Egyptian Government).

Wow thanks so much for posting this! I remember going there as a kid, and I tell my kids about it, and they look at me like I'm NUTS... NOW I CAN SHOW THEM!!!!

It was the coney island of the west coast.

I lived in Seal Beach and we would ride the bus to the Pike what fun. I remember the story about the man standing up on the roller coaster and dying my mom told me the story. That was a scary ride.

I totally agree with you. The shopping area that now occupies the site of the pike is boring. I was there last sunday and the place was empty, except for a few people. After watching this video, I wished I got to experience the pike when it was there.

Sadly I went only once, my parents did not like it. Too small to ride the Cyclone Racer. Remembered the carousel. The recording you used is of a Wurlitzer model 165 band organ. (The Pike had a German Ruth organ). What CD, tape or record did you use? Very clear recording!

@DanMan869 My Bad. I confused my dried up corpse stories! But I still enjoyed The Pike as a kid! The TV show was the Six Million Dollar Man.