Skateboarding was first started in the 1950s, when all across California surfers got the idea of trying to surf the streets. No one really knows who made the first board -- instead, it seems that several people came up with similar ideas at the same time. Several people have claimed to have invented the skateboard first, but nothing can be proved, and skateboarding remains a strange spontaneous creation

 

In 1963, skateboarding was at a peak of popularity, and companies like Jack's, Hobie and Makaha started holding skateboarding competitions. At this time, skateboarding was mostly either downhill slalom or freestyle. Torger Johnson, Woody Woodward and Danny Berer were some well known skateboarders at this time, but what they did looked almost completely different from what skateboarding looks like today! Their style of skateboarding, called "freestyle", is more like dancing ballet or ice skating with a skateboard

 

Then, in 1965, skateboarding's popularity suddenly crashed. Most people assumed that skateboarding was a fad that had died out, like the hoola hoop. Skateboard companies folded, and people who wanted to skate had to make their own skateboards again from scratch.

 

In the spring of 1975, skateboarding took an evolutionary

boost toward the sport that we see today. In Del Mar,

California a slalom and freestyle contest was held at the

Ocean Festival. That day, the Zephyr team showed the world

what skateboarding could be. They rode their boards like no

one had in the public eye, low and smooth, and skateboarding

was taken from being a hobby to something serious and

exciting (Read more about the history of Dogtown and the

Zephyr team). The Zephyr team had many members, but the

most famous are Tony Alva, Jay Adams and Stacy Peralta.