The Santa Monica Looff Hippodrome is located on the Newcomb Pier adjacent to the

Santa Monica Pier The Santa Monica Pier is a large double-jointed pier at the foot of Colorado Avenue in Santa Monica, California, United States. It contains a small amusement park, concession stands, and areas for views and fishing. Attractions Pacific Park T ...

Santa Monica, California Santa Monica (; Spanish: ''Santa Mónica'') is a city in Los Angeles County, situated along Santa Monica Bay on California's South Coast. Santa Monica's 2020 U.S. Census population was 93,076. Santa Monica is a popular resort town, owing to ...

. It was designed and built in 1916 by

Charles I. D. Looff Charles I. D. Looff was a German master carver and builder of hand-carved carousels and amusement rides, who immigrated to the United States of America in 1870. Looff built the first carousel at Coney Island in 1876. During his lifetime, he built ...

and his son Arthur to hold a Looff Carousel. Looff's carousel was housed at the Hippodrome until it was sold in 1939. It was replaced by

Philadelphia Toboggan Company Philadelphia Toboggan Coasters (PTC) is one of the oldest existing roller coaster manufacturing companies in the world. Based in Hatfield, Pennsylvania, it was established in 1904 by Henry Auchey and Chester Albright under the name Philadelphia ...

Carousel #62, which was moved from the Ocean Park Pier. The building remains a rare example of structures that used to be on the amusement pier, and scenes were filmed therein for the 1973 award-winning film,

The Sting ''The Sting'' is a 1973 American caper film set in September 1936, involving a complicated plot by two professional grifters (Paul Newman and Robert Redford) to con a mob boss ( Robert Shaw).'' Variety'' film review; December 12, 1973, pag ...

. Since 1977, the carousel has been owned by the city, and was restored from 1977 through 1981. It was declared a

National Historic Landmark A National Historic Landmark (NHL) is a building, district, object, site, or structure that is officially recognized by the United States government for its outstanding historical significance. Only some 2,500 (~3%) of over 90,000 places liste ...

in 1987. and

History of the Carousel & Hippodrome

The Looff Years (1910s–1930s)

On June 12, 1916 the Looff Hippodrome opened its doors for the first time. It and its carousel were part of Looff's new amusement park "Pleasure Pier," on a short, wide pier adjacent to the long, narrow Santa Monica Pier.

The Newcomb Years (1940s–1960s)

When the war ended (WWII), Walter Newcomb found himself in an enviable position. The amusement business was expected to see a great surge with the return of the country's military personnel and a general feeling of national pride. With the closure of the Venice Pier reducing his competition, he relocated his Venice-based carousel into the old Looff Hippodrome.

Threats, storms, and restoration (1970s–1990s)

Over the next several decades the city of Santa Monica proposed various plans to tear down Newcomb Pier, and with it the Hippodrome. The city council approved a plan to replace the pier with a resort island in

Santa Monica Bay Santa Monica Bay is a bight of the Pacific Ocean in Southern California, United States. Its boundaries are slightly ambiguous, but it is generally considered to be the part of the Pacific within an imaginary line drawn between Point Dume, ...

. Local activists formed Save Santa Monica Bay and shot down that plan, and in 1973 the city formally revoked a standing order to demolish the pier. The city acquired ownership of the pier in summer 1974. In the 1980s it was almost destroyed by winter storms. In 1983 the city formed a Pier Restoration and Development Task Force (now the Pier Restoration Corporation), tasked with returning the pier to its former glory. In 1989 the Pier Restoration Corporation decided to "make the pier a year-round commercial development with amusement rides, gift shops, nightclubs with live entertainment and restaurants" that would be "reminiscent of its heyday in the 1920s and 1930s". The Hippodrome was restored and the Carousel was rebuilt inside it. The current

Pacific Park Pacific Park is an oceanfront amusement park located in Santa Monica, California. The park, located on the Santa Monica Pier, looks directly out on the Pacific Ocean, in the direction of Catalina Island. It is the only amusement park directly l ...

opened in 1996 as a full-scale family amusement park.

References

*Santa Monica Pier: A Century on the Last Great Pleasure Pier, by James Harris *National Carousel Association: Merry-Go-Roundup (Volume 10, Number 4, Winter); The Carousel on the Pier, A Pictorial History of America's Most Famous Carousel.

External links

History of pier & hippodrome
at Santa Monica Landmarks. Includes photo gallery. {{National Register of Historic Places Carousels in California History of Santa Monica, California National Historic Landmarks in California Buildings and structures in Santa Monica, California Buildings and structures on the National Register of Historic Places in Los Angeles County, California Byzantine Revival architecture in California Moorish Revival architecture in California Victorian architecture in California Philadelphia Toboggan Coasters carousels Landmarks in Santa Monica, California Amusement rides introduced in 1916 1916 establishments in California