Today's beautiful beach area was once more of swamp, situated on a tidal lagoon which isolated the area well into the nineteenth century. The original inhabitants, whose name has been forgotten, lived on the mesa here. The Spanish called them Gabrielinos

Spain claimed the area in 1542, and after Mexico gained independence in 1822, the Mexican government made several land grants in the area, including Rancho Los Alamitos and the Rancho Las Bolsas. Able Sterns acquired both ranchos, owning the area that is now Huntington Beach. He sold his holdings to The Los Angeles and San Bernardino Land Company in 1862. The land was gradually broken into smaller plots, and agriculture began to displace cattle ranching.

In the early twentieth century, Philip A. Stanton and Colonel H. S. Finley realized the potential of this coastal location, and set out to develop it into a resort to rival Atlantic City. Pacific City, as it was called, lacked easy access until its developers convinced Henry E. Huntington to extend his interurban electric railway from Long Beach to their town. In return, Huntington got a considerable amount of land, and the city was named after him. The first Pacific Electric red trolley cars arrived in 1904 and the city incorporated in 1909.

Huntington Beach grew quickly at first. A pavilion, an indoor swimming pool and a hotel were constructed, but the Huntington Beach Company was soon in debt and the community floundering.

Around 1914, an encyclopedia salesman bought land here, subdivided it into small lots and gave it away as a premium with the purchase of a set of reference books. Little did the purchasers know how much that land would soon be worth. Standard Oil struck “black gold” here in 1920, and Huntington Beach soon became California' fourth-largest oil field. The boom lasted into the 1930s.

In 1910, Huntington brought surfer George Freeth here from Hawaii to demonstrate ancient Polynesian sport of surfing. A few years later, surfer, swimmer and actor Duke Kahanamoku helped make surfing more popular throughout Southern California. The first surf shop, "Gordie's Surf Boards", opened in 1955.

Pacific Coast Highway reached Huntington Beach in 1926, making it more accessible by auto and increasing its popularity as a tourist destination, a distinction it still enjoys.