What to See in Long Beach - Top Sights and Attractions

Floating 1930s hotel with dining and a spa. The RMS Queen Mary is a retired British ocean liner that sailed primarily on the North Atlantic Ocean from 1936 to 1967 for the Cunard-White Star Line and was built by John Brown & Company in Clydebank, Scotland. Queen Mary, along with RMS Queen Elizabeth, were built as part of Cunard's planned two-ship weekly express service between Southampton, Cherbourg and New York. The two ships were a British response to the express superliners built by German, Italian and French companies in the late 1920s and early 1930s.

Queen Mary sailed on her maiden voyage on 27 May 1936 and won the Blue Riband that August; she lost the title to SS Normandie in 1937 and recaptured it in 1938, holding it until 1952, when it was taken by the new SS United States. With the outbreak of World War II, she was converted into a troopship and ferried Allied soldiers during the conflict.

Following the war, Queen Mary was refitted for passenger service and along with Queen Elizabeth commenced the two-ship transatlantic passenger service for which the two ships were initially built. The two ships dominated the transatlantic passenger transportation market until the dawn of the jet age in the late 1950s. By the mid-1960s, Queen Mary was ageing and was operating at a loss.

After several years of decreased profits for Cunard Line, Queen Mary was officially retired from service in 1967. She left Southampton for the last time on 31 October 1967 and sailed to the port of Long Beach, California, United States, where she remains permanently moored. The ship serves as a tourist attraction featuring restaurants, a museum and a hotel. The ship is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The National Trust for Historic Preservation has accepted Queen Mary as part of the Historic Hotels of America.

In 1967, the City of Long Beach took control of the ship.^[2]

Theater in Long Beach, California. The Terrace Theater is a full theatrical and performance venue located in Long Beach, California. The theater seats 3,051 patrons at its maximum configuration in Orchestra, Loge, and Balcony sections. The Orchestra seating section is arranged in the Continental seating style with no center aisle and two exits for every four rows in the theater. The Terrace is one of the venues in the Long Beach Convention and Entertainment Center. It is attached to the 825-seat Center Theater.

The theater was completed in 1978, replacing the Long Beach Municipal Auditorium, which had been demolished in 1975.

The theater accommodates a wide variety of events including local performances, church services, dance competitions, beauty pageants, Broadway touring productions, industrial conventions, symphony performances, and operas. It is the current home to the Long Beach Symphony Orchestra. The theater is maintained and run by the Stagehand Department of the Long Beach Convention and Entertainment Center.

In 1978 Richard Pryor's performance was filmed and recorded. Richard Pryor: Live in Concert was released to theaters in 1979.^[10]

Museum in Long Beach, California. Rancho Los Alamitos takes its name from an 1834 Mexican partition of the 1784 Rancho Los Nietos, a Spanish concession, covering an area in present-day California's southwestern Los Angeles County and northwestern Orange County. Los Alamitos means the Little Cottonwoods or Poplars in Spanish, after the native Fremont Cottonwood trees there.

Rancho Los Alamitos originally included much of the area of present-day eastern Long Beach, all of Los Alamitos and Rossmoor, and most of Seal Beach, Cypress, Stanton and Garden Grove. It is also sometimes referred to as Bixby Ranch, after its last private owners. The early 19th century adobe ranch house still stands today, housing a museum which presents the history of the area.^[13]

Building. Villa Riviera is a registered historic building on Ocean Boulevard in the Alamitos Beach neighborhood of Long Beach, California, United States. From the time of its completion in 1929 through the mid-1950s, it was the second-tallest building, and the tallest private building, in Southern California. The 16-story Châteauesque building has been called the city's "most elegant landmark" and a building that "has helped define the city." The building was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1996 and is currently used as condominiums with approximately 134 units, including two penthouse apartments occupying the 16th floor of the building, complete with gargoyles adorning both sides of the bay windows overlooking the city and ocean.^[17]

The Grand Prix of Long Beach is an IndyCar Series race held on a street circuit in downtown Long Beach, California. Christopher Pook is the founder of the event. It was the premier race on the CART/Champ Car calendar from 1996 to 2008, and the 2008 race was the final Champ Car series race prior to the formal unification and end of the open-wheel "split" between CART and IRL. Since 2009, the race has been part of the unified IndyCar Series. The race is typically held in April. It is one of the longest continuously running events in Indy car racing and is considered one of the most prestigious events on the circuit.

The Long Beach Grand Prix is the longest running major street race held in North America. It started in 1975 as a Formula 5000 race, and became a Formula One event in 1976. In an era when turbocharged engines were starting to come to prominence in Formula One, Long Beach remains one of the few circuits used from the time Renault introduced turbos in 1977 until the last Long Beach Grand Prix in 1983 that never once saw a turbo-powered car take victory.

John Watson's win for McLaren in 1983 holds the Formula One record for the lowest ever starting position for a race winner. In a grid consisting of 26 cars, Watson started 22nd in his McLaren-Ford. That same race also saw Watson's teammate (and 1982 Long Beach winner) Niki Lauda finish second after starting 23rd on the grid. René Arnoux, who finished third in his Ferrari 126C2B, was the only driver to ever finish on the Formula One podium at Long Beach driving a turbocharged car.

In 1984, the race switched from a Formula One race to a CART Indy car event. Support races over the years have included Indy Lights, IMSA, Atlantics, Pirelli World Challenge, Trans-Am Series, Formula D, Stadium Super Trucks, Formula E, and the Toyota Pro/Celebrity Race. Toyota was a sponsor of the event since its beginning and title sponsor from 1980 to 2018, believed to be the longest continuously running sports sponsorship in the U.S.

The Long Beach Grand Prix has been announced since 1978 by Bruce Flanders (and various guest announcers). The Long Beach Grand Prix in April is the single largest event in the city of Long Beach. Attendance for the weekend regularly reaches or exceeds 200,000 people. In 2006, the Long Beach Motorsports Walk of Fame was created to honor selected past winners and key contributors to the sport of auto racing.^[19]

Hall of fame. The Long Beach Motorsports Walk of Fame is a walk of fame located on South Pine Avenue in the downtown waterfront area of Long Beach, California, to recognize those who have made a major contribution to auto racing in Long Beach. The project was conceived in late 2005 through talks between the Economic Development Bureau of the City of Long Beach and officials in order to improve and strengthen the city's ties with the open-wheel car racing event, the Grand Prix of Long Beach. It earned support from elected officials, local government and business and auto racing enthusiasts, and was officially dedicated in a ceremony led by Beverly O'Neill, the Long Beach mayor, on April 6, 2006. The Walk of Fame received development funding from the Redevelopment Agency of Long Beach, and the project set itself the objective of teaching the public about the auto racing role played by Long Beach.

Each year, two or three auto racing figures are inducted following a vote by an informal group that is composed of individuals such as local officials and Long Beach Grand Prix Association members. All inductees are honored by a 22 in (1.8 ft) bronze medallion plaque that is permanently embedded in the palm-lined concrete sidewalk that includes a rendition of the racer's car and lists their top auto racing achievements. The medallions proceed up the sidewalk's center alongside the Grand Prix of Long Beach race circuit in front of the Long Beach Convention Center. Members are inducted at a ceremony that occurs outside the Long Beach Convention Center in the week of the event; drivers and their families receive a 6 in (0.50 ft) and 3 in (0.25 ft) bronze medallion replica from Long Beach's mayor. Mark Vaughn of Autoweek described it as "a venue somewhat similar to the Hollywood Walk of Fame".

A total of 35 people from the world of motorsports have been inducted since 2006. The two inaugural members, Dan Gurney and Phil Hill, were inducted in 2006. All but twelve inductees are from the United States. In 2019, Sébastien Bourdais and Will Power were the first two active IndyCar Series participants to be added to the Walk of Fame. Only one person has been posthumously inducted, Gary Gabelich, the former world land speed record holder in 2008. There have been three racing teams added to the Walk of Fame. In 2007, Newman/Haas Racing, who were considered one of the most successful squads in Long Beach Grand Prix history, became the first team added to the Walk of Fame; the two other teams are Chip Ganassi Racing, inducted in 2011, and Galles Racing, who was added the following year. Bruce Flanders, Gerald Forsythe, Kevin Kalkhoven, Roger Penske and Christopher Pook are the five non-drivers who are members of the Walk of Fame. The two most recent inductees were Bill Auberlen and Alex Zanardi in 2022.^[24]

Neighborhood in Long Beach, California. Bluff Park is a small, upscale neighborhood in Long Beach, California, United States. There is a bluff along much of the beach in Long Beach, and on one stretch, there is the narrow Bluff Park from which the neighborhood gets its name.

Bluff Park is the location of the Long Beach Museum of Art, as well as many older, well-maintained homes. There is also a Buddhist monastery that once was a Roman Catholic convent.

The boundaries for the Bluff Park Historic District (founded in 1982) are defined as Ocean Boulevard on the south, Junipero Avenue of the west, a jagged line between 2nd St. and Broadway on the north, and Loma Avenue on the east. The community of Belmont Heights is to the east of Bluff Park, the community of Bluff Heights is to the north, and the community of Alamitos Beach is to the west.^[26]

Public university in Long Beach, California. California State University, Long Beach is a public research university in Long Beach, California. The 322-acre campus is the second largest of the 23-school California State University system and one of the largest universities in the state of California by enrollment, its student body numbering 39,435 for the fall 2021 semester. With 5,830 graduate students as of fall 2021, the university enrolls one of the largest graduate student populations across the CSU system and in the state of California.

The Beach is home to one of the largest publicly funded art schools in the United States. The university currently operates with one of the lowest student tuition and mandatory fee rates in the country, at $5,742 per semester for full-time students with California residence as of 2021.^[28]

Park in Long Beach, California. Recreation Park in Long Beach, California is a large 210.9-acre recreation center in the southeast section of the city.

The park has a lawn bowling green, dog park, casting pond, and playground. Special facilities include the Billie Jean King Tennis Center, and the Joe Rodgers Field and Blair Field baseball facilities. There are both 18-hole and 9-hole golf courses. The 18-hole course is one of the busiest in the nation.

The park's community center offers a wide range of classes for the community. There is also a reserved picnic site for large picnic groups.

Recreation Park also holds a number of special events sponsored by the City of Long Beach, such as the one for Cinco de Mayo.

South of the 9-hole golf course is the Colorado Lagoon, another city park.

The Recreation Park Bandshell was designated as a City of Long Beach historic landmark in 1991.^[30]

Office in Long Beach, California. The Long Beach Professional Building is a historic medical office building in downtown Long Beach, California added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2005.

The eight-story Art Deco two-part vertical block building with its pink and black lobby was built in 1929. It was designed by architect William Douglas Lee. It is particularly notable as the city's first large office building devoted exclusively to medicine.

It is also credited for introducing elements commonly found in the so-called "WPA Moderne" style of the 1930s.

In 2018 the building was re-opened by owners, Global Premier Development, and now operates under the name Regency Palms as an Assisted Living and Memory Care facility run by Meridian Senior Living.

KTGY Architecture + Planning was responsible for the historic renovation.^[32]