The history of skateboarding as it is known today encompasses decades of invention, change and development. Skateboarding began in the 1930's and 1940's when kids attached roller skates to a wooden plank, but at this stage they really could not be called skateboards. It wasn't until 1958 that a variation of the skateboard as we know it was developed. It was constructed in a surf shop in California.

Skateboarding became an alternative for surfers to do when the ocean was flat. The surf shop owner, Bill Richards, struck a deal with the Chicago Roller Skate Company to produce sets of skate wheels. These were then attached attached to square wooden boards. Soon, many kids were rolling down hills and the sport became known as "sidewalk surfing."

In the mid-70s, skateboarding had began to gain in popularity again after Larry Stevenson introduced new decks with kicktails and the urethane wheel was also introduced at this time. More attention was given to deck design, trucks, and wheels, and the sizes and shapes of skateboards became more varied.