Giant waves, powerful winds pounded SLO County pier in 1960: ‘This is a terrible loss’
The oceans were originally the fastest way to travel in California, but danger lurked beneath the waves.
Before wharves were built, passengers had to transfer from ship to launch and take their chances rowing to shore.
Judge Henry Amos Tefft drowned on Feb. 6, 1852, coming ashore in Port San Luis after presiding over hearings in Santa Barbara. He served on the Second District, a circuit that included courtrooms in San Luis Obispo and Santa Barbara.
His body was lost to the stormy sea. Tefft Street in Nipomo is named for him.
Installing a wharf required a big, expensive leap in technology.
The late 1860s began the era of county wharf building.
The builders who chose their locations wisely made the most of their investments. George Hearst in San Simeon, John Harford in Port San Luis and James Cass in Cayucos all built forerunners of structures that stand today.
There were some notable mistakes.
Before it became Shell Beach, the area north of Pismo Beach was known as Oilport. A group of investors tried to strike it rich with a refinery and wharf.
Unfortunately, winter storms demolished their pier in December 1907 and the investment went bust.
That same year, a real estate venture called La Grande Beach included a wharf in what is now Oceano Dunes State Vehicular Recreation Area.
When that investment went bust, so did the wharf leaving the dune property isolated.
Even established local piers have had trouble.
In 1983, all the piers in San Luis Obispo County were damaged and the Union Oil pier demolished by a storm.
Recently both the Pismo Beach Pier and the Cayucos Pier have undergone renovations.
The public pier in Avila Beach closed in June 2015 after it began to sway as whale watchers crowded one side of the pier. Grants are being sought to restore it.
That wasn’t the first time the Avila Beach Pier required repairs. In 1960, the center of the pier was ripped out by breaking waves.
Reporters gathered information from San Simeon to Oceano for a Telegram-Tribune story that was published on Feb. 9, 1960:
Giant waves wreck Avila Beach Pier
Mountainous waves, aided by an extremely high tide and a northwest gale, battered the San Luis Obispo coastal region from San Simeon to Oceano today.
Old timers said it was the most devastating storm they had ever witnessed in the area. At Pismo Beach an observer said the waves were the biggest he had seen there since 1906.
The Avila Beach county pier was the major victim of the lashing gales which tore out 100 feet of the mid-section of the wharf, rendering it completely useless.
Supervisor Fred C. Kimball, on the scene at 8 a.m. today, pledged his support and that of fellow supervisors in “joining together in doing whatever necessary” to repair the pier.
Booming waves, breaking about 50 yards off shore, washed debris into the street at Avila. Earlier this morning it was reported that waves had broken completely over the sea wall.
Over the Wall
In the northern coastal area, Cayucos appeared to be the community hardest hit. Mrs. Virgil Ambrosia reported waves had broken over the sea wall, throwing beach playground equipment and facilities into the street.
Water from the waves washed into the stores which border on Cayucos’ beach street. Seaweed was washed into the driveways of some Cayucos service stations.
Pete Sebastian at San Simeon said it was the worst storm he has seen in 40 years. Motorists, stopping at the Sebastian store, said waves had washed debris onto Highway 1 about 10 miles north of San Simeon.
The Piedras Blancas lighthouse was also hard hit, losing its water storage tank. Telephone lines were also knocked out.
Sebastian said that waves were breaking in the middle of the bay and coming all the way over the new San Simeon pier. No damage to the pier was reported.
Pismo Beach city officials were maintaining a close watch over the county pier fearful that it might meet the same fate as the wharf at Avila Beach.
The Pismo Beach city trailer park was damaged considerably when a huge wave hit about 7:30 a.m. Mrs. Julia Miller, wife of the park leasee, reported that the trailers are being moved back from the storm created bluff overlooking the ocean.
Playground equipment on Pismo Beach was mangled by 20 to 30-foot-breakers. Debris washed up on Park Avenue to Cypress Street. The Grand Avenue ramp was severely damaged.
At Oceano, debris of all types washed up more than 30 feet from the beach and scattered about the pavilion.
Kimball, viewing the debris strewn bay at Avila Beach said, “The sight sickens me.”
“This is a terrible loss. The pier was the lifeblood of this community. I’ve been in this area since 1920 and I’ve never seen anything like it.”
The Avila Beach harbor was filled with floating pilings and lumber. A heavy loss of crab pots was also reported.
PG&E and Pacific Telephone and Telegraph crews rushed into the Avila Beach area early this morning to attempt repairing storm damaged to power and telephone lines.
San Luis Obispo city’s major storm effects came in the form of .50 of an inch of rain, whipped by strong gales last night.
The 24-hour total, recorded at Cal Poly this morning, raises the season total for the city to 10.11 inches compared to 4:36 at this time last year. The season total last year was only 11.76 inches. Normal for Feb. 9 is 12 inches.
