Huntington Beach was founded in 1909 as a small city near the beach, about a century later it is known as surf city. There were only 915 people living there at the time and very few even knew what surfing was. Legendary hawaiian surfer, water man, olympic gold medalist Duke began to surf Huntington Beach. Duke is one of the founding fathers of surfing. With Duke’s arrival people started surfing there after 1909 and still are. This suring spot turned HB into the pipeline of California. Pipeline is a very crowded beach with some of the best waves on the world. By the 1963 the population had more than tripled. Then in 1965 the world surfing championships are held there. In 1957 Jacks surfboard opened. Then after a couple of years the statue of Duke was brought to HB. It is still there next to Jacks at the HB Pier. Now the city’s population is more than 201,870. However HB is not the only surfing community. About 30 minutes south is San Clemente a town with the same basic story. However the population is a lot smaller. Around the 1960s San Clemente and Huntington Beach were in an argument with the California for the nick name “Surf City”. In 1988 a Hurricane crashed on the pier and made it collapse into the water. Then in the 1990s the new pier is done. This attracts over 500,000 people to visit it. Lastly Huntington Beach was officially named “Surf City” by California in 1963.
