Construction and purpose On May 20, 1871, two meetings of San Buenaventura citizens were held at Spear's Hall, one in the morning and a follow-up in the evening, to discuss the construction of a wharf in Ventura. Articles of incorporation and bylaws were adopted to form a company undertaking the project. The wharf was built to promote the city's growth. On May 18, 1872, the first piling for the wharf was driven into the ground. A ceremony was held at which Arcadia Camarillo, the wife of Joseph Wolfson, who led the effort to build the wharf, broke a bottle of wine over the first piling. The wharf was completed nearly five months later on October 5, 1872. The
Ventura Signal wrote: "At last a steamer can lay alongside of the wharf, and discharge and take on cargo and passengers. It is a grand improvement upon the old way and duly appreciated by shippers and travelers." Robert Sudden was hired as the wharf manager, a position he held for over two decades. Prior to construction of the wharf and continuing until the arrival of the railroad in 1887, ground transportation to Ventura was difficult, particularly in the rainy season when the flow of the
Ventura and
Santa Clara Rivers isolated the city. Accordingly, ships docking at the wharf also served as a principal means of transportation to and from Ventura. In its early decades of operation, the pier was known as the Ventura Wharf and was used as a commercial wharf. The products shipped from the Ventura Wharf included agricultural products and, eventually, crude oil from the local oil fields. In its annual statement for the year ending April 30, 1898, the Ventura Wharf Company reported exports that included of bulk oil, 80,384 bags of beans (all varieties), 28,819 bags of corn, 14,721 bags of barley, 11,855 boxes of oranges, and 6,285 boxes of lemons.
Shipwrecks, storms, and fires During its years of operation as a wharf, the pier was damaged on multiple occasions by storms, shipwrecks, and fire. In 1877 or 1878, the wharf was damaged by storms and repaired within weeks. Twenty-five years later, on December 19, 1914, the steamer
Coos Bay was wrecked at the wharf. The ship attempted to moor "when a strong rip tide swung her hard against the piling." The ship swung under the wharf, and "heavy swell . . . made the steamer a trip-hammer pounding against the structure from the under-side and lifting large sections of the wharf almost at every blow." On February 13, 1926, heavy surf destroyed the wharf during a winter storm. George Proctor, an accountant for the Ventura Wharf & Warehouse Co., was killed when he walked to the end of the wharf as the structure collapsed below him. A middle selection collapsed first, leaving Proctor stranded. The outer portion then collapsed, dropping Proctor to the water below. Again, in December 1934, heavy waves caused a partial collapse of the pier.
Fishing and recreation The pier reached its greatest length of when it was rebuilt after being damaged in a winter storm in 1937. Like the wharf that preceded it, the pier experienced repeated damage from storms and heavy surf. Notable instances include the following: • On November 27, 1947, the
Coos Bay, buried near the pier since 1914, was loosened from the sand and washed ashore, again causing damage. Hundreds of sight-seers "swarmed over the hull." • On April 22, 1950, the pier reopened after a closure of several months following storm damage. Members of the Ventura County Boat Club dressed in costumes of Indian medicine men and performed a ritual intended to assure good fishing. • In 1977 and 1978, winter storms again damaged the pier. It was closed for several months in late 1979 and early 1980 to undertake more than $163,000 in repairs, including replacing 35 pilings. • In 1976, the pier was designated as Ventura Historic Landmark No. 20. • In January 1983, winter storms damaged the pier, and the last were closed and barricaded. Thirty-one pilings and guardrails were replaced at a cost of $100,000. The pier was closed for repairs from September to December 1984. • In 1986, the pier was again damaged in winter storms and was closed for two years. In July 1988, the pier was re-opened, though the last section of approximately remained closed. In October 1993, the pier re-opened following a $3.5 million rehabilitation, including a new deck and installing a "swell-actuated sculpture" titled "Wavespout" that sprayed
seawater as waves rolled by. It was California's longest wooden pier with a deck length of . A ribbon-cutting ceremony was presided over by Mayor Greg Carson. The far end of the pier had been closed since 1986. After heavy surf knocked out more than 20 pilings in December 1994 and January 1995, the pier closed again. Then, on December 13, 1995, high surf from a storm sheared off approximately of the pier. With the loss of this section, the pier ceased being the longest wooden pier on the California coast. The "Wavespout" sculpture at the end of the pier was also lost in the storm. Following the 1995 storm damage, the city opted not to rebuild the pier to its prior length. On April 1, 2000, the pier re-opened after a $2.2-million renovation that included steel-reinforced pilings and a new octagonal section at the pier's end. The current length is . This portion of the pier was reopened on June 29, 2024. ==In popular culture==