Oceanside, California

Oceanside Pier

The Oceanside Pier, first built in 1888, is the longest wooden pier on the western United States coastline at 596 meters. Many surfers enjoy the large waves which average 3-4 feet. During the warm and stormy El Niño seasons (Spanish: The Christ child), waves as large as 10 feet high roll in. The phenomenon occurs around Christmas timed. The pier has had to be rebuilt 6 times.

City Hall & Library

The architecture of Oceanside is derived from the styles of Spanish Missionaries. Nearly all of the buildings in Oceanside have stucco, arches, and Spanish columns. Occasionally, concealed bell domes
can be seen. Oceanside is highly culturally diverse, featuring the first Samoan communities on the mainland, and a Native Hawaiian population of over 1,000.

Camp Pendleton Marine Base

Camp Pendleton was the training ground for the famed Navajo (Diné) "windtalkers", who served in the US Marine Corps during World War II. They used their Southern Athabaskan language to create a code which at the time, was impossible to crack. In their mother tongue, the Navajo language is called Diné bizaad.

Mission San Luis Rey de Francia

This Spanish mission was founded on June 13,1798 by Father Fermín Francisco de Lasuén, located in what is now Oceanside, California. In the 16th century, the Spanish made first contact with the Native American tribe Payomkowishum (People of the West). The Spanish called them Luiseño due to their proximity to the Mission San Luís Rey de Francia "The Mission of Saint Louis King of France." The Luiseño language is in the Uto-Aztecan family of languages.

Some information was collected from: http://en.wikipedia.org
Photos credited to Jot Powers and
the Union Tribune http://www.signonsandiego.com