Hunt's Pier - History

History

Hunt's Pier dates back to the early 1900s when it was known as Ocean Pier, the first major pier on the boardwalk. Home to ballroom dancing and musical acts, Ocean Pier was purchased by William Hunt in 1935 and converted to an amusement park with rides including a Ferris wheel, a roller coaster and a dark ride.

On Christmas Day, 1943, Ocean Pier burned down. Hunt built a new, all-concrete pier in its place. On May 30, 1957, Memorial Day, the revamped Hunt's Pier opened. The amusement park began with only four rides, though it boasted 10 rides by the time of its grand opening on June 21, 1957.

In 1985 Hunt's Pier was sold and re-emerged in 1989 as The New Hunt's Pier, retaining many of the rides operated by the original Hunt's Pier and adding a steel roller coaster called the Kamikaze. In 1988, Conklin Shows bought the pier and renamed it Conko's Party Pier. This latest incarnation of the pier was short-lived, and by the end of 1992, many of the rides had been disassembled and the New Hunt's Pier had gone bankrupt. The Kamikaze was sold, and it runs under the name, the Ninja, at Six Flags Over Georgia.

The Cantonoso family, owners of Steel Pier in Atlantic City, bought the defunct pier in 1995. By 1996, the pier had been renamed Dinosaur Beach and had added dinosaur motifs to the classic Golden Nugget Mine Ride, a decision derided by fans as not being in good taste. In addition to a water coaster and an amphitheatre, Dinosaur Beach included the first spinning wild mouse, which opened in 1997. The only classic rides operating at Dinosaur Beach were the Golden Nugget, Log Flume and Rapids, with most of the Hunt's legacy gone. In 1998 Dinosaur Beach closed, and over the next few years most of the rides disappeared.