The success of the
North Pier prompted the formation of the Blackpool South Jetty Company one year later in 1864. Authorisation to build a pier was obtained in the '''''' confirmed by the
Pier and Harbour Orders Confirmation Act 1866 (
29 & 30 Vict. c. 58). Impressed with the construction of Blackpool Pier (North Pier), the company hired the same contractor, Richard Laidlaw and Son of
Glasgow for the project. This time, however, the company used the designs of Lieutenant-Colonel John Isaac Mawson rather than those of
Eugenius Birch. When the pier was opened on 30 May 1868, it was 503 yards in length, 131 yards of which was a landing jetty for use at low tide. The first manager of the pier was Robert Bickerstaffe, coxswain of the first Blackpool lifeboat. Blackpool's lifeboat station is located next to Central Pier. From the start, the new pier's emphasis was on fun rather than the genteel relaxation provided at North Pier. In the early days fun was provided mainly by dancing facilities, but in the 20th century,
roller skating was introduced along with fairground rides and amusement machines. Steamboat excursions departed from the landing jetty as they did from North Pier. The dance halls became less popular after the
Second World War and the facilities were adapted into a theatre, bars and amusement arcades by the 1970s. The pierhead theatre was modernised in 1986 and became known as "Peggy Sue's Showboat". A striking addition came in 1990 when a
Ferris wheel was erected, a half-scale reference to the Victorian attraction that had been part of the
Winter Gardens complex a century earlier. At around 3:00 a.m. on 17 July 2020, just a week after the pier reopened from the
first COVID-19 lockdown, a fire broke out and destroyed a fairground ride. ==Construction and adaptation==