Oceanside, a great little beach town that sprouted up along southern California's coast in the late 1800s. Founding father, Andrew Jackson Myers, divided up his 160 acres into town lots. By 1887, the town had its own bank, hotel and newspaper. The first of many beachside piers took shape in 1888, along with Oceanside's incorporation. The first pier lasted only a few years, broken up by the relentless Pacific surf and a winter storm. The pier was moved to Third Street, and subsequent renditions have been a part of Oceanside ever since.
It would be difficult to visit Oceanside without feeling the presence of its next-door neighbor, Camp Pendleton. Established during World War II, the Marine training base specialized in amphibious landings. Construction crews quickly turned Santa Margarita, Las Flores and San Onofre Ranches into a military base. Today, the base is made up of 2,600 buildings and 500 miles of roads, and continues preserving the original ranch house, a National Historic Site.