You might be surprised at what the most visited exhibit at the International Surfing Museum has been through the years.
Skateboarding.
“People came from all over the world to film it. It showed the spin offs of surfing,” said Natalie Kotsch, founder of the museum. “The good thing about founding a museum that no one else has is you can do a lot of firsts.”
The International Surfing Museum will be celebrating 20 years at its location this Sunday, hosting a reception, bands and a special appearance by Dean Torrence, who was half of the singing duo “Jan and Dean” that made the song Surf City famous. The museum technically started in 1987, but moved from a small location to its current historical spot tucked off Main Street a year later. 
Ann Beasley, a volunteer since the museum started, said the idea for a surf museum started when Kotsch used to work in a real estate office near the strand, and would watch surfers with shortboards and longboards tucked under their arms walking by all day.
Kotsch said it was a time when the city was focusing on redevelopment, and she realized they needed a draw for tourism.
The moment she knew they had made it came about 10 years ago, when a tourist from Alaska had come to Huntington Beach specifically to see the museum.

The guestbook is filled with signatures from around the world, visitors entranced by the history of the sport.
“It’s an eclectic group of surfers and non surfers,” said Beasley. “And they all walk out saying ‘I had no idea that this is happening’.”
The International Surfing Museum is one of only a handful of museums dedicated to the sport in the world – there are only six or seven that exist, Beasley said.
The start of the current location came with a huge party. The street was shut down with Dick Dale playing in the street.
This year’s surf music concerts are dedicated to Kotsch and Dale, both battling cancer.
 Hundreds of exhibits come in and out of the museum each year. Currently, there’s a feature on women’s surfing history.
“We have so many treasures. Every one makes your heart flutter,” Kotsch said. “It has been an exciting journey.”

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