Route 66 - Santa Monica, California

Well done, you're here at Santa Monica Pier and officially at the end of Route 66.

The pier is actually two piers, over a hundred years old, originally with separate owners. The narrower Municipal Pier had a less appealing function - carrying sewage beyond the breakers. The Pleasure Pier, built seven years later in 1916, originally housed a theatre and is now the site of the carousel. Built in 1922, the carousel was restored in 1990 and placed inside the former theatre building.

The first heyday of the pier was during the 1920s, but like much else during the Great Depression, spending on non-essentials suffered greatly. The pier was mainly used as a ferry port, with many amusements sold off. The 1940s brought country music star Spade Cooley's television show, broadcast from the pier ballroom, and during the 1950s, the ballroom served as a roller skating rink.

Storms, recessions, strange redevelopment ideas, and other peaks and troughs of the popularity of pier-style entertainment have all beset Santa Monica Pier since it was built, but still, it stands - a feature of television and film and the official end of Route 66; it's a long way back to Sears Tower!

Congratulations, you've done it!



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