Seaside State Beach Pier goes to sunken ship

Friday Fotos – Seacliff Beach Pier from across the bay at Capitola

January 25, 2019 By Terry

When I took this photo of the Seacliff Pier, I didn’t realize what I was looking at. The ship at the end of the pier was built in 1917 when wartime steel shortages caused the US Navy to try building three concrete ships. This one, the Palo Alto, was built in Oakland, but never put into service because the war ended before construction completed.

In 1929, the Palo Alto was purchased by a private company that decided to turn it into an amusement park. The ship was towed to its current resting place and then sunk by opening the sea cocks. The ship sank to the ocean floor and in the summer of 1930, a pier to the ship was completed.

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About Terry

I started out as a skip tracer. Just in case you don’t know, that’s the guy who finds the people who don’t want to be found. It was the little things—getting paid to lie—that made skip tracing the fun part of the job.

Those years of chasing deadbeats taught me many valuable life lessons, such as liars come from all walks of life, and always keep your car in the garage.

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