Overview Of The History Of Surfing
In 1769, surfing is first mentioned during a voyage of Captain James Cook by a man named Joseph Banks. The art of surfing was developed by the Polynesians just prior to 1769. The Polynesian with the greatest skill was always the chief. He also always had the board made of the best materiel available to the tribe. Around the year 1831 missionaries from Germany and Scotland taught against many of the Polynesian traditions including surfing. After this, surfing was rarely practiced, except by a few Hawaiians.
In 1907 a man by the name of George Freeth was brought to California from Hawaii to introduce surfing at the opening of Huntington Railroad. George Freeth continued to demonstrate his surfing skills all along the west coast. On the East coast a man named James Matthias Jordon Jr introduced surfing with his famous 15 foot redwood board.
In the early part of the 20th century surfing was once again growing in popularity. In Waikiki during the same time surfing was reestablishing itself into a sport. The major areas that surfing begin to grow the biggest was Australia, California, and of course Hawaii. The Beach Boys released their hit Surfing Safari and surfing started to explode and every year has grown and changed into what we see today.