Water and Power Associates Informing the Public about Critical Water and Energy Issues facing Los Angeles and California

Historical Notes

In 1542, Juan Rodriquez Cabrillo discovered the "Bay of Smokes". The south-facing San Pedro Bay was originally a shallow mudflat, too soft to support a wharf. Visiting ships had two choices: stay far out at anchor and have their goods and passengers ferried to shore; or beach themselves.

San Pedro was named for St. Peter of Alexandria, a Fourth Century bishop in Alexandria, Egypt. His feast day is November 24 on the local ecclesiastical calendar of Spain, the day on which Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo discovered the bay in 1542 which would be known as San Pedro. Santa Catalina Island, named after Catherine of Alexandria, was claimed for the Spanish Empire the next day, on her feast day, November 25.*^

Historical Notes

Juan Jose Dominguez (1736–1809), a Spanish soldier, arrived in San Diego, California in 1769 with Fernando Rivera y Moncada and served with the Gaspar de Portolà expedition, and along with Junípero Serra, traveled to San Juan Capistrano, San Gabriel and Monterey. In 1784, Dominguez was granted a concession of seventeen Spanish leagues or 75,000 acres  from the Spanish Empire.

Dominguez's original grazing permission stretched from present-day Compton to the Palos Verdes Peninsula, but did not become a title to land until it was "re-granted" in 1822 in the Mexican era to Juan Jose's nephew and heir, Cristobal Dominguez. Cristobal died soon afterward, but his three sons settled on the ranch, building adobe homes. The following year Manuel Dominguez, eldest son of Cristobal Dominguez, married Engracia Cota and commenced a successful career raising cattle and serving in a variety of elected and appointed offices in Los Angeles.

For many years, a portion of the Rancho San Pedro land grant was contested between the Dominguez and Sepulveda families through various appeals to Spanish Governors and law suits from 1817–1883, and was eventually partitioned into seventeen parcels in 1882. The Sepulveda family was awarded 31,629 acres known as Rancho de los Palos Verdes, that later became the cities of the Palos Verdes Peninsula, as well as portions of Torrance and San Pedro.*^

Historical Notes

In 1851, the 21-yr old Phineas Banning, arrived in the tiny port of San Pedro. At the time the port consisted of just a shack and rickety pier owned by the Sepulveda family, wealthy Californios who also operated a primitive stage coach line to the pueblo, 20 miles away. It wasn’t long before the energetic young Anglo saw visions of fleets of wagons and an international port. He’d make both dreams come true.^**^

This adobe home, built by Diego Sepúlveda in the 1850s, was the first two-story Monterey-type adobe built in Southern California. The site of Diego Sepulveda's home was designated California Historical Landmark No. 380 (Click HERE to see complete listing).*^*

Historical Notes

Mrs. Carson’s father was Don Manuel Dominguez, a wealthy sheep raiser, who inherited the Rancho San Pedro of 24,000 acres from his father, Don Christobal Dominguez, a commissioner of Spain, who had inherited it from his uncle, Don Juan Jose Dominguez, to whom the property had been granted by the Spanish throne.

In 1839, Don Manuel Dominguez was elected Second Alcalde of Los Angeles; In 1843 he became prefect from the second district of California, and in 1849 he was a delegate to the Constitution Convention of California.

George H. Carson was a native of Illinois, who saw service in the Mexican War under Colonel Newberry.  At the close of that struggle he went to Los Angeles, establishing himself in the hardware business, in which he remained until his marriage in 1857, when he turned his attention to the direction of his wife’s interest in the San Pedro Ranch.^#^#

Upon Manuel’s death in 1882, and the passing of his wife one year later, the Rancho lands were partitioned among his six surviving children, all daughters. Three of the married daughters continued the Dominguez legacy through the Carson, Del Amo and Watson families.^^^#

Historical Notes

Phineas Banning acquired the land that would become Wilmington from Manuel Dominguez, heir of the original concession holder Juan Jose Dominguez, in 1858 to build a harbor for the city of Los Angeles. Wilmington was known as New San Pedro from 1858 to 1863, when it became the city of Wilmington. It was named by “Father of the Harbor” Phineas Banning after his Delaware birthplace.*^

Historical Notes

In 1852, German immigrant Augustus W. Timms obtained Sepulveda's Landing on the mudflats near here. He built a wharf, added a warehouse, corral and other facilities to service shipping and the running of stages to Los Angeles. Timms was a pioneer in the development of the harbor and for over fifty years this area was known as Timms' Point.*^*

Timms' Point was designated California Historical Landmark No. 384 (Click HERE to see more Early California Historical Landmarks).

Historical Notes

The ship aground might also be unloading cargo using lighterage, the practice of unloading the cargo from a ship first to a lighter vessel, and then finally to the docks. The harbor at Wilmington did not have a deep-water channel running directly to the docks. The lack of a good deep-water harbor was a great handicap to Los Angeles until the Port of Los Angeles was constructed in the 1900s.^^

Historical Notes

In 1857 the Dominguez family sold Phineas Banning a large parcel of land at the head of the slough northeast of San Pedro. Banning started a settlement called New San Pedro, then in 1859 changed the name to Wilmington after his birthplace. He also built a wharf, warehouses, a lumber yard and built lighters and a steamboat. Wilmington soon eclipsed Timms' Wharf and became the center of the shipping industry in San Pedro Bay.

Banning bought stages and wagons to carry passengers and freight from San Pedro to Los Angeles, San Bernardino, and even as far as Yuma and Salt Lake City.*^*^

Historical Notes

In 1863, the Wilmington Exchange Hotel was built and was the first hotel in Wilmington. Phineas Banning’s first Wilmington home was the single-story building attached to the hotel (as seen above).**^

Besides operating a freighting business, Banning operated a stage coach line between San Pedro and Wilmington, and later between Banning, California, which was named in his honor, and Yuma, Arizona.*^

Historical Notes

The Los Angeles & San Pedro Railroad was Southern California's first railroad. Its 21-mile line from San Pedro Bay to Los Angeles was built from 1868 to 1869 and began operations on October 26, 1869.  The railroad was the brainchild of Phineas Banning and its primary purpose was to transport freight from the port to the city.

As a California state senator, Banning sponsored a bill authorizing the City and County of Los Angeles to finance construction of the railroad between Los Angeles and San Pedro. The city and county obliged--and then awarded Banning the contract to construct the line.

The new 21-mile line connecting Los Angeles with the new shipping harbor at San Pedro Bay was built between 1868 and 1869.

The Los Angeles & San Pedro Railroad was purchased by the Southern Pacific Railroad in 1873.*

Historical Notes

The new Banning built railroad slashed the cost of transporting goods and passengers to and from the ships at San Pedro. Local merchants and farmers--not to mention port operators like Banning--benefited almost immediately. The railroad charged $6 per ton to transport inbound dry goods to the city. Outbound grain cost $2.50 per ton to ship, and passengers could buy a one-way ticket to the port for $1.50. Total commerce at the harbor more than doubled from 26,000 net tons of freight in 1869 to 55,000 in 1871.*#*

Historical Notes

Still relatively undeveloped, the harbor did not offer deep-water access, forcing merchants to send small boats and rafts to meet cargo-carrying ships at anchor in the bay. This method was particularly cumbersome in transporting lumber which, as a result of the growing towns surrounding San Pedro, was in enormous demand.*^^

Historical Notes

In the late 1860's Banning realized that for San Pedro Harbor to become a center of commerce, that three things needed to be accomplished: Building a railroad, constructing a breakwater, and dredging the harbor to accommodate large ships and to allow them to dock directly at the wharfs.

In October 1869, construction was completed on the Los Angeles and San Pedro Railroad, Southern California's first railroad.

On March 2, 1871, Congress voted an appropriation for construction of a rock jetty from the lower end of Rattlesnake Island to Deadman's Island.**#

In 1871, Phineas Banning greatly improved shipping when he dredged the channel to Wilmington to a depth of 10 feet. The port handled 50,000 tons of shipping that year.*^

Historical Notes

Deadman's Island was one of two islands near San Pedro in the 19th century. The land, sometimes referenced as Deadman's Island, Isla Del Muerto, and Reservation Point, was dredged away in 1928 as part of a harbor development effort. Rattlesnake Island, the other islet in the area, became Terminal Island.*

Historical Notes

Wilson College was a precursor to the University of Southern California.  It opened in Wilmington in 1874 as the first coeducational college west of the Mississippi.  Active for several years, it closed after the Methodist Church Conference received a large donation of land closer to Los Angeles and decided to develop on that site.  Opened in 1880, that new college would become the University of Southern California.

The next college to open in Wilmington was Los Angeles Harbor Junior College in 1949, an institution that became an important link in the state junior college system.**^

Historical Notes

In 1873 both the City and County of Los Angeles gave their holdings in the Los Angeles & San Pedro Railroad plus $600,000 to the Southern Pacific Railroad (SP) in return for having SP agree to run their railroad through Los Angeles. This move was believed to be necessary for the economic viability and growth of the City. The Los Angeles and San Pedro Railroad would now become the Southern Pacific Railroad.

In 1876 the Southern Pacific would terminate their second transcontinental railroad in Los Angeles County.*^^

Historical Notes

The Rancho San Pedro is the site of the First Spanish land grant in California. The land was granted in 1784 by King Carlos III to Juan Jose Dominguez, a retired Spanish soldier who came to California with the Portola expedition and later with Father Juniperro Serra. The original land grant encompassed 75,000 acres, including the entire Los Angeles harbor. The land has passed through successive generations and remains in the Dominguez family. Today, the descendants operate the Watson Land Company and the Carson Estates Company on the original Rancho land.^^^#

The Dominguez family Rancho San Pedro was designated California Historical Landmark No. 152 (Click HERE to see complete listing). Also, in 1976 it was placed on the National Register of Historic Places by the United States Department of the Interior.

Historical Notes

Upon Manuel Dominguez's death in 1882, and the passing of his wife one year later, the Rancho lands were partitioned among his six surviving children, all daughters. Three of the married daughters continued the Dominguez legacy through the Carson, Del Amo and Watson families.

All of the daughters made major donations to the construction of St. Vibiana’s, the former Cathedral in downtown Los Angeles. In 1922, the two remaining daughters, Susana Del Amo and Reyes Dominguez, deeded seventeen acres adjacent to the family home to the Claretian Missionaries. In 1924, the Claretian Missionaries began using the adobe home as a graduate school for Claretians and later as a seminary. In recognition of this contribution to the Claretians, special arrangements were made to allow Susana and Gregorio Del Amo to be buried in a crypt beneath the altar of the chapel located in the modern day Claretian retirement home.^^^#

Historical Notes

The first known commercial structure on the shore of San Pedro Bay was built here in 1823 by the trading firm of McCulloch and Hartnell to store cattle hides from the San Gabriel and San Fernando missions. Richard Henry Dana described this adobe hide house in Two Years Before the Mast. Thus began the development of the Port of Los Angeles.*^*

The Casa de San Pedro has been designated California Historical Landmark No. 920 (Click HERE to see complete listing).

Historical Notes

During the Civil War, Phineas Banning ceded land to the Union Army to build a fort at Wilmington, the Drum Barracks. He was appointed a Brigadier General of the First Brigade of the militia, and used the title of general for the rest of his life.*^

Established in 1862, Drum Barracks became the United States military headquarters for Southern California, Arizona, and New Mexico. It was a garrison and base for supplies, and a terminus for camel pack trains operated by the Army until 1863. Abandoned in 1866, the site remains a landmark of the Civil War in California.*^*

Historical Notes

Camp Drum and Drum Barracks get their name from Col. Richard Coulter Drum, then Assistant Adjutant General of the Army's Department of the Pacific, stationed in San Francisco, and not after a percussion instrument. There is no record that Col. Drum ever saw or set foot in the station bearing his name.

During the Civil War, Camp Drum was the headquarters of the District of Southern California and the home to the California Column, commanded by Colonel James Henry Carleton. Between 2,000 and 7,000 soldiers were stationed at Camp Drum, and Wilmington became a thriving community with a population greater than Los Angeles during the war.*^

Historical Notes

The surviving 16-room structure was the officers' quarters, which was once one of 19 similar buildings on the site. Today, the barracks is open as a museum which commemorates California's contribution to the Civil War. The building has been designated as Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monument No. 21 (Click HERE to see complete listing).*^

The Fort Drum Barracks site, the only Civil War landmark in California, has been designated California Historical Landmark No. 169 (Click HERE to see more in California Historical Landmarks in Los Angeles County).

Historical Notes

The Victorian architecture style house was built in 1881 by the Sepulveda family as a wedding present for their daughter Rudecinda and her husband, James Dodson. It was originally located at the corner of 7th and Beacon Streets, San Pedro.*^

Historical Notes

In 1976, the James H. Dodson Residence was dedicated Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monument No. 147 (Click HERE to see complete listing).

The house is now located at 859 W. 13th St., San Pedro.  It is a private residence and is not open to the public.*^

Historical Notes

To solve the sediment problem two breakwaters were built during 1871-93. One connected Rattlesnake Island with Deadman's Island and the other jutted out from Timm's Landing towards Deadman's Island. Those breakwaters caused the tidal flows to scour the ocean floor removing sand and mud. The building of these breakwaters gave birth to the main shipping channel which is still in use today.

Historical Notes

Lumber was one of the main imports into the San Pedro Harbor in the late 1800s and early 1900s due to the high demand for construction materials to support the rapid growth of Los Angeles.

Historical Notes

Los Angeles grew rapidly and the need for building materials escalated. The harbor grew to meet this demand for handling ships filled with imported lumber. Wood's Lumber Company sits on what is now present day Ports o' Call.

Historical Notes

In June and July of 1887 alone, 25 million board feet of lumber were unloaded at San Pedro Harbor. This influx of lumber imports facilitated the expansion of Los Angeles and surrounding areas, which were experiencing a population boom.

Historical Notes

The harbor served as a key entry point for lumber shipments, particularly from the Pacific Northwest, to meet the building needs of the booming Los Angeles region. Stacks of lumber can be seen in many photographs of the San Pedro waterfront from that era.

Historical Notes

The lumber trade through San Pedro continued to thrive until the Great Depression, playing a vital role in supplying construction materials for Los Angeles' rapid urbanization in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

Historical Notes

After Banning's death in 1885 his sons pursued their interests in promoting the port, which handled 500,000 tons of shipping in that year. The Southern Pacific Railroad and Collis P. Huntington wanted to create Port Los Angeles at Santa Monica, and built the Long Wharf there in 1893. However the Los Angeles Times publisher Harrison Gray Otis and U.S. Senator Stephen White pushed for federal support of the Port of Los Angeles at San Pedro Bay.

Historical Notes

In 1893, Southern Pacific built the Long Wharf at the north end of Santa Monica to accommodate large ships and it was dubbed Port Los Angeles. At the time it was constructed, it was the longest pier in the world at 4700 feet, and accommodated a train. A controversy erupted over where to locate the seaport for the City of Los Angeles. The SP preferred Santa Monica, while others advocated for San Pedro Bay.

San Pedro Bay was selected by the United States Congress in 1897. Still, the Long Wharf acted as the major port of call for Los Angeles until 1903.

Historical Notes

The Long Wharf was designated as California HIstorical Landmark No. 881 (Click HERE to see the California Historical Landmark Listing for LA County).

Historical Notes

Click HERE for more on the Santa Monica Long Wharf

Historical Notes

The Free Harbor Fight was settled when San Pedro was endorsed in 1897 by a commission headed by Rear Admiral John C. Walker (who later went to become the chair of the Isthmian Canal Commission in 1904). With U.S government support breakwater construction began in 1899 and the area was annexed to Los Angeles in 1909.

Historical Notes

Point Fermin Lighthouse was built in 1874. It was the first navigational light into the San Pedro Bay. Phineas Banning, with the support of many local businessmen, petitioned the Federal Government and the US Lighthouse Board to place a lighthouse on the point in 1854. Although the Lighthouse Board agreed funding and land, disputes delayed its construction until 1874.

Point Fermin marks the southern-most point of the City of Los Angeles.  It was named after Father Fermín de Francisco Lasuén by British explorer George Vancouver. When Vancouver visited in 1793 he wanted to thank the Father for his hospitality at the mission in Carmel.

Father Padre Fermín de Francisco Lasuén also founded Mission San Fernando Rey de Españaon (the San Fernando Mission). Sometimes called the "forgotten friar," Padre Fermín Lasuén actually governed the California Mission system three years longer than his more famous predecessor, Padre Junipero Serra.

Click HERE to see more in Early Views of the San Fernando Mission.

Historical Notes

Paul J. Pelz, a draftsman for the US Lighthouse Board, designed the Stick Style Victorian lighthouse. The design was used for six lighthouses built between 1873 and 1874, of which three are still standing, East Brothers in San Francisco Bay, Hereford Light in New Jersey, and Point Fermin. The Stick Style is an early Victorian architectural style and is simpler in design and decoration than the later high Victorian period. It is characterized by its gabled roofs, horizontal siding, decorative cross beams and hand carved porch railings.

The structure stands 30 feet tall and was built in 1874 at Point Fermin to guide mariners. The Lighthouse has a brick foundation and a wood frame, which was built with lumber from the California Redwoods.

Historical Notes

In 1941 the light was extinguished due to the bombing of Pearl Harbor. There was fear that the light would serve as a beacon for enemy planes and ships. Later, the lantern room and gallery were removed. They were replaced by a lookout shack that remained for the next 30 years, and was referred to as "the chicken coop" by locals.

Historical Notes

Point Fermin Lighthouse was saved from demolition in 1972 and the light was added to the National Register of Historic Places. It was refurbished in 1974, and a new lantern room and gallery were added.**

In 2002, the lighthouse was restored, retrofitted, and rehabilitated for public access with funds from the City of Los Angeles, the Port of Los Angeles, and the State of California. The lighthouse was opened to the public on November 1, 2003 under the management of the Department of Recreation and Parks for the City of Los Angeles. Volunteers from the Point Fermin Lighthouse Society serve as tour guides and help to keep the lighthouse open to the public.

Historical Notes

Picture file card reads: "On hill left is Knob Hill hospital. Ground in front of Front Street to north end of P.E.S.S. Co. property was removed and P.E.R.R. laid their tracks in 1904".

Historical Notes

Lumber was one of the main imports into the harbor due continued high demand for construction material to keep up with a fast growing Los Angeles and its surrounding area. This would continue until the Great Depression.

Historical Notes

Under United States control after 1848, when the United States defeated Mexico in the Mexican-American war, the harbor was greatly improved and expanded under the guidance of Phineas Banning and John Gately Downey, the seventh governor of California.*^

Historical Notes

In 1906, the City of Los Angeles annexed the Harbor Gateway, a long narrow strip of land connecting the city to the coast, and in 1909, the city annexed San Pedro and the adjacent town of Wilmington. The odd shape is still seen in the map of the city.*^

Click HERE to seeSan Pedro City Hall No. 2 (1905 - 1908).

Historical Notes

In 1890 the Pasadena/Altadena Railway was assumed by a couple of other failing rail lines that connected it to Los Angeles. It became an immediate success. In July 1891 it was joined again with a line that connected it to San Pedro. The line was renamed the Los Angeles Terminal Railway, and subsequently so was its San Pedro terminus at Rattlesnake Island, now Terminal Island.*^

Historical Notes

The establishment of the Port of Los Angeles in the early 1900s spurred the development of San Pedro, and electric streetcars provided local transit services for workers and later military personnel.

Historical Notes

Streetcar lines in San Pedro included the Front Street line, which ran from the Pacific Electric depot at Sixth and Palos Verdes to Point Firmin via Sixth and Pacific.

Historical Notes

The San Pedro Carnegie library seen above opened on June 5, 1906 and was located on the Public Plaza in San Pedro, with an entrance on what is now Harbor Boulevard, across from the San Pedro Main Post Office. The library building featured a distinctive gilded dome and temple-front design, and was known as "The Lady of Beacon Street".

Historical Notes

Tracks on Front Street were abandoned around 1915 and the line was likely routed through to the Outer Harbor Line.

Historical Notes

The Free Harbor Jubilee officially began on April 26, 1899, when President McKinley pushed a button in Washington, D.C. that signaled a barge 3,000 miles away in San Pedro to dump a load of large boulders into the sea, marking the beginning of the construction of the new port’s breakwater.*

Historical Notes

The ceremony was the culmination of a 7-year battle that pitted two Southern California business titans against each other. At stake: the location of the official deep-water harbor for Los Angeles.  San Pedro came out on top.*

Historical Notes

In 1864, Phineas Banning built this elegant Greek Revival home within sight of the harbor. It was one of the most impressive in the region – and still is.  Here he enjoyed hosting visiting dignitaries and socializing with family and friends. Today the 23-room Banning Mansion and a surrounding 20 acre park are open to visitors.

Phineas Banning (1830 – 1885) is known as "The Father of the Port of Los Angeles," he was one of the founders of the town of Wilmington, which was named for his birthplace. His drive and ambition laid the foundations for what would become one of the busiest ports in the world.

Besides operating a freighting business, Banning operated a stage coach line between San Pedro and Wilmington, and later between Banning, California, which was named in his honor, and Yuma, Arizona*^

Click HERE to see more early views of the Banning Residence.

Historical Notes

Most of the boulders used to construct the breakwater in San Pedro Harbor came from the mountains of west San Fernando Valley. Between 1898 and 1904, Southern Pacific was grading, cutting, and tunneling through the Santa Susana Mountains near Chatsworth Park as they establshed their new Coast Line connection from Ventura to Burbank. This provided San Pedro with an ample supply of boulders for their new breakwater. Click HERE to see more in Early Views of the San Fernando Valley.

Historical Notes

Today, an 8.5 miles long breakwater stretches across most of the bay, with two openings to allow ships to enter the port areas behind it. The initial western section of the breakwater, called the San Pedro Breakwater, was constructed between 1899 and 1911 at San Pedro; the Middle breakwater was completed over the next twenty-five years, and the Long Beach breakwater was finished after World War II.*^

Historical Notes

Deadman's Island was one of two islands near San Pedro in the 19th century. The land, sometimes referenced as Deadman's Island, Isla Del Muerto, and Reservation Point, was dredged away in 1928 as part of a harbor development effort. Rattlesnake Island, the other islet in the area, became Terminal Island.*^

Historical Notes

Wilmington Transportation Company (WTC) was founded in 1877 by the Bannings, and incorporated by Phineas Banning in 1884. In 1887, Santa Catalina Island owner George Shatto asked Captain William Banning to schedule one of his coastal steamers to make three weekly trips between Avalon and San Pedro to accommodate his vision of turning the island into a tourist destination. Banning’s Wilmington Transportation Company’s earliest vessels included the Cricket, Ferndale, Amelia, and Nellie. Each of these carried passengers between San Pedro and Avalon.

In 1892 the Banning brothers, William, Hancock, and Joseph Brent, purchased the island for $128,740. WTC was deeded to the newly incorporated Santa Catalina Island Company, allowing the Bannings to enforce a monopoly of only WTC boats landing tourists on the island. With the success of WTC came the development of outside competitors.*

Historical Notes

The S.S. Falcon along with the S.S. Warrior played a significant role in Catalina Island’s early transportation history.  They were an important part of the Wilmington Transportation Company fleet for many years.  They carried hundreds of passengers across the channel to Catalina Island as well as freight and fresh water for the Island residents.

Historical Notes

The S.S. Cabrillo, built at the Banning Company's shipyards at Port Los Angeles, was launched in 1904. Other vessels operated by the Banning Company were the gasoline screw Cricket, the gasoline screw Catalina, and the steam yacht Companero.

Historical Notes

After Phineas Banning passed away in 1885, the business was carried on by his three sons, William, Joseph Brent, and Hancock. The company purchased Santa Catalina Island, developed it as a resort and provided the ships for transportation. Wilmington Transportation Company, Santa Catalina Island Company, and Wilmington Development Company were subsidiary firms of the Banning Company. The company's real estate interests also grew and included land in Los Angeles, Pasadena, Newport Beach, as well as petroleum leases near Wilmington and Newport.

The final dissolution of the company came in 1920 at the time of the death of Joseph Brent Banning. After this period, business papers are in the names of William Banning or Hancock Banning individually.

Historical Notes

The above building was San Pedro's City Hall from 1905 to 1908. It was built in 1905 at the northwest corner of 11th Street and Palos Verdes Street. The mayor at the time was Edward Mahar and he lived only one block south of there.

The building served as San Pedro's city hall for only 3 short years when a new building was constructed on Beacon Street shortly after San Pedro was consolidated with Los Angeles in 1909.

Historical Notes

The Classical Revival style City Hall building was constructed in 1909, the year San Pedro was annexed by the City of Los Angeles. It was designed by F.E. Allen of Pasadena and cost $40,000 to build.*

Historical Notes

After San Pedro was annexed by Los Angeles in 1909, LAFD Hose Co. 6 was incorporated into the new San Pedro City Hall building at 630 Beacon Street.

Historical Notes

The first San Pedro fire volunteers formed in 1889. Their fire house was located on Sixth Street, across from Crockers’ Hall. In 1905 they moved to the northwest corner 11th Street and Palos Verdes Street, into the building used, for just a brief period time, as San Pedro’s City Hall.

On August 28, 1909, Hose Company No. 6 was organized.  The fire house was located at 630 Beacon Street (Wall & Beacon) which was part of the new San Pedro City Hall.

In 1915, Hose Company No. 6 was disbanded to organize Engine Company No. 36.  Their new location was 638 Beacon Street, again site of San Pedro's City Hall.^#*

Historical Notes

The beautiful Classical Revival style City Hall building would be demolished in 1928 to make room for the current San Pedro City Hall and Municipal Building.

Historical Notes

The U.S. Atlantic Battle Fleet, nicknamed the Great White Fleet, debuted on the world stage during the Spanish-American War and was one of the markings of President Theodore Roosevelt's "Big Stick" diplomacy.^^ 

Historical Notes

From December, 1907 to February, 1909 the US Atlantic Fleet steamed around the world on a mission of 'Gunboat Diplomacy'. The ships, commonly known as the 'Great White Fleet' due to their white-painted hulls, called in ports the world over, impressing foreign dignitaries with the appearance of great power. The entire affair was designed to impress, and everything was done to make sure the fleet's appearance was perfect. The ships, however, were not all they appeared to be. HMS Dreadnought had been in commission for a year, effectively rendering all the US ships obsolete. Two of the ships had such severe mechanical problems that they could not complete the cruise, and two more were obsolete and unfit for battle. It was great show, but the military value of the fleet was questionable.^^

Historical Notes

This was the last great hurrah for the age of white ships, buff masts and high diplomacy on the high seas. As soon as the ships returned from the cruise they were stripped of their fancywork and much of their bridgework, painted gray, and had their pole masts replaced by functional but unsightly cage masts.^^

Historical Notes

On August 28, 1909, San Pedro and Wilmington were annexed into Los Angeles and became Los Angeles Harbor. On October 9,1909, President Taft visited San Pedro to see the harbor and to see the land which would become Fort MacArthur. His motorcade went down Pacific Avenue and the local school kids stood along the unpaved road and waved American flags. Taft was the only Sitting President to visit San Pedro.

Historical Notes

“Wilmington streets have all been renamed. Well, not all, but almost all of them have been renamed. And Canal Street is the most obvious. Because Canal Street was literally a canal. The buildings were built up high, they were on stilts because this was a mud flat and it flooded all the time. So they ended up filling in the street so that when you look at it now, the buildings that are there, some of the old buildings, the first floors are now the basements."

Canal Street is gone. It's now known as Avalon Boulevard.^*#

Historical Notes

Between 1911 and 1912 the first 8,500-foot section of the breakwater was completed, and the Main Channel was widened to 800 feet and dredged to a depth of 30 feet to accommodate the largest vessels of that era.*^^

Historical Notes

Over the years the harbor would see additional improvements and expansions:

In 1912 the Southern Pacific Railroad completed its first major wharf at the port.

In 1913, the Los Angeles Angels Lighthouse was constructed at the end of the breakwater.

During the 1920s, the port passed San Francisco as the west coast's busiest seaport.

In the early 1930s a massive expansion of the port was taken with the construction of a breakwater three miles out that was over 2 miles in length. In addition to the construction of this outer breakwater an inner breakwater was built off of Terminal Island with docks for sea going ships and smaller docks built at Long Beach.*^

Historical Notes

The Los Angeles Harbor Light (also known as Angels Gate Light) was built in 1913 at the end of the San Pedro breakwater. The original plan for the lighthouse was a wooden, square, two-story building like those constructed for Oakland Harbor and Southampton Shoals. However, the plans were changed and the Los Angeles Light was firmly anchored to the concrete block and built of steel reinforced concrete. It is the only lighthouse ever built to this design. The original paint on the lighthouse was only white which caused a problem with seeing the lighthouse building during fog. Vertical black stripes were added for increased visibility.

SS Yale, a coastal passenger steamship, was built by the Delaware River Iron Shipbuilding and Engine Works in 1906. In March 1918 the U.S. Navy acquired her from the Pacific Steamship Company of Seattle, Washington, placing her in commission later in that month as USS Yale.

USS Yale served between March 1918 and September 1919. During World War I, the steamboat made 31 round-trip voyages transporting troops between Britain and France. Yale was decommissioned in early September 1919 and, in June 1920, sold for commercial operation along the Pacific Coast.*^

Click HERE to see more on the S.S. Yale.

Historical Notes

The Los Angeles Harbor Light, also known as the Angels Gate Lighthouse, was built in 1913, automated in 1972, and refurbished in 2012.

The bottom story of the lighthouse originally housed the station’s fog signal equipment along with water and fuel tanks, and the floor above this contained storage space and a bathroom. The third story housed a kitchen, pantry, and living room, while the fourth story had a bathroom and two bedrooms for the keepers, whose families were housed on shore, and the fifth story had a third bedroom and the watchroom.*

Historical Notes

Since 1913, the light has stood, but a 5-day storm in 1939 caused it to tilt inland a bit.

Built in 1930, the Chichibu Maru was a Japanese passenger, later renamed Kamakura Maru.  Before the war, the ship carried passengers between Yokohama and San Francisco. In 1942 she was confiscated by the Imperial Japanese Navy to serve as a troop transport ship, and also as hospital ship. On April 28, 1943, the Kamakura Maru, sailing from Manila to Singapore and carrying some 2,500 soldiers and civilians, was torpedoed by the US submarine USS Gudgeon. The ship was hit by two torpedoes and sank within 12 minutes. Four days later, 465 survivors were rescued from the sea by Japanese ships, meaning some 2,035 people were killed.*^

Historical Notes

The lighthouse was built around twelve steel columns and sits at the end of the 9,250-foot San Pedro breakwater. The base of the structure is octagonal and covered with steel plates, while the upper section is cylindrical and built using cement plaster on metal lath. ^*

Historical Notes

Note bridge to boat landing and walkway around upper portion of tower. This walkway was removed in 1957.

Historical Notes

The original paint on the lighthouse was only white which caused a problem with seeing the lighthouse building during fog. Vertical black stripes were added for increased visibility.

Historical Notes

In 1980, the lighthouse was listed on the National Register of Historic Places. It is also listed as Los Angeles Light in the USCG Lights list.

Historical Notes

By 2011, the years of exposure had led to rusted through walls, broken windows, cracked masonry, and leaks during storms. In cooperation with the Coast Guard, the Cabrillo Beach Boosters Club completed a $1.8 million overhaul of the exterior, funded by the Port of Los Angeles. The overhaul was completed in May of 2012. A $1.2 million overhaul of the interior is planned.*

Historical Notes

Lumber was in enormous demand as a result of the growing towns surrounding San Pedro.*^^

Historical Notes

The SS Yale and SS Harvard became known as “white Flyers of the Pacific”.  The sister ships each made four sailings a week, carrying 565 First Class passengers at an average speed of 23 knots between the Los Angeles and San Francisco, and later San Diego.

Historical Notes

The ships began their careers on the East Coast in 1907. Built for the Metropolitan Steamship Company of New York, in the shipyards of Chester, Pennsylvania, the identical twins were both 407 feet long and 62 feet in the beam. Coal-fired, triple-screw steam engines powered the ships to top speeds of 23 knots. They were among the first ships built in this country with steam turbine engines.

Yale and Harvard boasted plush interiors with staterooms on the lower decks for 275 people. Outside cabins opened to promenade decks, with inside cabins accessed from passage ways.

The ships were built to carry as many as 800 passengers. “In the matter of interior decoration and fittings the ships strike a new note,” announced one published account.

The new ships were painted white but trimmed in the colors of their namesake universities: Harvard crimson and Yale blue. The number of private parlors and bathrooms put the ships “in a class by themselves,” remarked the New York Times as the Yale was launched in December 1906, adding, the ships were “the fastest and most luxurious vessels in the American coasting trade.*

Historical Notes

Yale and Harvard spent three years making fast runs between New York and Boston before they were acquired by the Pacific Steam Navigation Company for service on the West Coast. The two ships made the long voyage to California via the Straits of Magellan, arriving in Los Angeles on December 16, 1910. They were immediately put into service on the Los Angeles to San Francisco route. San Diego was added to the schedule the next year.

Carrying freight and hundreds of passengers, the swift steamers outclassed the West Coast competition. They could make the Los Angeles to San Francisco run in nineteen hours—four to six hours faster than rival steamers. Los Angeles to San Diego took five hours.

The speedy service came to an abrupt halt toward the end of World War I. The U.S. Navy purchased both ships for one million each and refitted them in San Francisco for use as troop transports. The steamers ended up in Southampton, England in July 1918. In the next few months they made over one hundred crossings of the English Channel, carrying soldiers and supplies to the French ports of Le Havre and Brest.

The ships were decommissioned in June 1920 and offered for sale. In Los Angeles, where the twin steamers were well-remembered from before the war, a group of businessmen formed the “Yale-Harvard Syndicate” and bought the ships from the Navy. The Yale and Harvard returned to California and underwent extensive reconditioning. The engines were converted from coal to oil burning. The interiors were refurbished and ballrooms added to create more cruise-like experience.*

Historical Notes

The Harvard, would see its last voyage (No. 972) on May 30, 1931.  Traveling southbound in a thick fog in the early morning, the white liner hit the rocks off Point Arguello, the feared “Graveyard of the Pacific.” Fortunately, the seas were calm. An SOS from the ship was answered by the Navy cruiser Louisville, and all 530 passengers and crew were rescued from lifeboats.*

Historical Notes

In November 1930, the Yale marked her 1000th voyage between Los Angeles and San Francisco by flying a 60-foot pennant. 

The Yale continued its coastal runs without its running mate, but the tough economic times of the Great Depression meant fewer passengers and declining profits for the ship’s operators.  Maritime strikes in 1934 and 1936 hurt even more and the Yale was withdrawn from service in July 1936.

In 1940, the Yale was sent to Alaska for service as a dormitory for construction workers in Sitka. 

The Navy bought the Yale in 1943 for a second stint of wartime service. Renamed the USS Greyhound, the steamer became a floating barracks for Navy personnel in Puget Sound. The end came in 1949 when the old steamer was towed to a Stockton scrap yard. The salvaged hull was sent to a steel mill in Pittsburg.*

Historical Notes

Woodrow Wilson transferred half of the 200 United States Navy ships from the Atlantic to the Pacific in 1919 when tension arose between the United States and Japan over the fate of China. San Diego Bay was considered too shallow for the largest ships, so the battleships anchored in San Pedro Bay on August 9, 1919. Local availability of fuel oil minimized transportation costs, and consistently good weather allowed frequent gunnery exercises off the nearby Channel Islands of California. ##*

Historical Notes

From 1919 until 1940, San Pedro Harbor was the U.S. Naval Fleet home port. ##*

Historical Notes

The submarine base at San Pedro was closed in 1923.

Historical Notes

Between 1927 and 1929 the ship was modernized with new tripod masts and five-inch guns.  The Oklahoma was sunk at Pearl Harbor and too badly damaged to be repaired, ^**

Historical Notes

The ship was sunk during the attack on Pearl Harbor, but rebuilt and participated in World War II. ^**

Historical Notes

A large portion of the Pacific Battle Fleet would call the Port of Los Angeles its home port from 1919 until 1940, San Diego being another home port.  The San Pedro port featured local availability of fuel oil – saving money – and good weather allowing frequent gunnery exercises.  During the summer of 1940, as part of the U.S. response to Japanese expansionism, the Pacific Fleet was instructed to take an "advanced" position at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii.  The rest is history.

Historical Notes

The fishing industry was beginning to pick up steam around the turn of the century. In 1893, Golden Gate Packing Company moved its operations from San Francisco to Los Angeles and reestablished itself as the California Fish Company. This became L.A. Harbor's first cannery.*^^

In 1903, a technique of preparing and canning was developed to can sardines, mackerel, bluefin tuna, yellowfin tuna and albacore. In 1912 the first fresh fish market was introduced in San Pedro and along with other markets that followed, they eventually supplied fresh and iced fish throughout our nation.^^#

Historical Notes

In 1912, Wilbur Wood opened the California Tuna Canning Company at Los Angeles Harbor. Two years later, Frank Van Camp bought the company and renamed it Van Camp Sea Food Company. This new company became best known for its Chicken of the Sea product line.*^^

Historical Notes

Before long, flotillas of purse seine boats were sailing down from northern waters to fish in San Pedro. By 1920 there was a large fleet of fishing boats and methods of fishing such as purse seine, lampara, jig, live bait, gill net, mackerel scoopers and long line boats. Los Angeles Harbor became the largest fishing port in the nation. The fishing industry in San Pedro was originated primarily by European and Asian fishermen each bringing fishing knowledge from their native lands.^^#

Historical Notes

In 1935, following the depression, 6,000 people were directly employed in the fishing industry. Its payroll was the largest in San Pedro, approximately three-quarters of a million dollars per month. The industry was at its peak during World War II. During the fifties, sardines and mackerel gradually diminished causing the decline of the industry in San Pedro.^^#

Historical Notes

Every September, San Pedro celebrates the discovery of its bay.  September 28 is the official “Cabrillo Day” in the state of California.

Historical Notes

August 7, 1910 Los Angeles Herald article announcing the completion of the new Elks’ temple:

The new Elks’ temple just finished at San Pedro is one of the best buildings erected for several years in the harbor district.  It is built of brick, with red tile roof, and is plastered on the outside.  Complete with furniture, the structure represents an outlay of about $50,000.

Hudson & Munsell were the architects, and the contract was awarded on their specifications the first of the year.  The lower floor has two large store rooms facing on Palos Verdes, a billiard room, café, kitchen and pantry.  From Seventh Street through the main entrance a grand staircase leads to a large alcove on the second floor.  On one side is the lodge hall, 36x36 feet, with a stage 13x38 feet, ante rooms and a reading room.  On the other side is a large smoking room and the ladies’ reception room and parlor.  The third floor contains apartments for members of the lodge.

The formal dedication of the new building has been postponed until some of the furniture, damaged in shipment, has been repaired, but the club rooms are now open and San Pedro lodge, No. 966, is holding meetings in the new hall.
Recently the building was thrown open to the public, when two nights’ minstrel show was given in the new hall that was one of the most successful entertainments of the kind ever given in the city.  The hall seats 400.

Historical Notes

Fire Boat No. 1 was purchased for $33,000 and is all wood construction, 65' long, 17.7' beam, 39.65 gross tons with a 400 gallon fuel capacity. Powered by a 275 H.P. Hall Scott Invader for propulsion and 2 275 H.P. Hall Scott Invaders each driving a 4 stage pump rated at 1000 G.P.M. for a total pumping capacity of 2000 G.P.M^#*.

Historical Notes

Originally stationed at the foot of First Street in San Pedro, Power Boat No. 1 was moved to Berth 260, Fish Harbor, Terminal Island On May 2, 1927.^#*

Historical Notes

On April 25, 1927, Los Angeles Fire Boat No. 1 was moved from its old location at the foot of the First street wharf, San Pedro, to the new location in Fish Harbor. A new building and slip were erected to serve as new quarters for the boat.^#*

Historical Notes

The firehouse, completed in 1926, demolished in 1986, was located at Berth 227 on San Pedro's Terminal Island. It served as the homebase for Fire Boat No. 2, launched on October 20, 1925. Renamed the Ralph J. Scott in 1965, the boat today sits on land behind the new Fire House No. 112 at Berth 86.^^**

In 1976, both Fire Boat No. 2 and Fire House No. 112 were designated Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monument No. 154 (Click HERE to see complete listing).

Historical Notes

After the Panama Canal opened in 1914, the Port of Los Angeles became the natural port-of-call for most transpacific and coastal users.^^#

Historical Notes

UCLA as well as Cal State Dominquez were both almost located in Rancho Palos Verdes: A section of 1,000 acres was originally set aside by the planners of the Palos Verdes Project for a University campus, In November 1921, a proposal was made for the relocation of the southern branch of the University of California , which later became UCLA. This land was in the center of the Palos Verdes Peninsula where Peninsula High School, the Peninsula Shopping Center, and the Avenue of the Peninsula Shopping Center is located.**#

Historical Notes

Howard H. Towle (1891-1972), an early salesperson in the Palos Verdes Project, notes in his oral history at having seen the model installed in the Auditorium Building (also known as the Temple Auditorium) on Fifth Street and Olive across from Pershing Square in downtown Los Angeles in October of 1921, in an early meeting for the development of the Palos Verdes Project.

Historical Notes

Point Fermin Park is the southernmost point in Los Angeles. The area was given its name by the British explorer George Vancouver, who visited here in 1793 and decided to thank Father Fermin Francisco de Lasuen for his hospitality at the mission in Carmel.

The point itself was a popular site for picnicking and social activities, especially as the town of San Pedro grew larger toward the late 1880s. Many visitors rode the Red Car to the end of Pacific Avenue and then walked the short distance to the park and lighthouse.

The park is one of the few places on the peninsula where Monarch butterflies spend their winters.^

Historical Notes

This building is now home to the American Cetacean Society, a nonprofit organization dedicated to protecting whales, dolphins, and porpoises. Click HERE for contemporary view.

Historical Notes

Deadman’s Island was a San Pedro landmark, a rocky isle about 800-feet long, 250-feet wide, and over 60-feet high that guarded the entrance to Los Angeles Harbor. It was removed in the late 1920s to make room for large ships in the growing harbor.

Historical Notes

Large electric-powered dredging equipment was used to clear and deepen the harbor.  A moveable and floating source of power was needed to provide the electricity necessary to operate such machines.

Historical Notes

The land, sometimes referenced as Deadman's Island, Isla Del Muerto, and Reservation Point, was dredged away in 1928 as part of a harbor development effort.

Historical Notes

In 1921, Canal Street was renamed Avalon Boulevard. It is believed it took the name of the S.S. Avalon that was at the time tied up to the Catalina terminal, at the foot of Canal Street.*^#

Historical Notes

PE's two-story San Pedro depot was opened in 1920, and succumbed to the wrecking ball in 1961. The new 6th Station on the Port of Los Angeles Waterfront Red Car Line is located just east of the former PE station site, adjacent to the entrance of the Maritime Museum.

Historical Notes

The San Pedro Station was one of PE’s larger suburban stations. It remained in service until after the abandonment of the San Pedro Line in December of 1958. Today, there is no trace of this impressive station.

Historical Notes

With the Port of Los Angeles at its doorstep the San Pedro Line was a heavy source of traffic for Pacific Electric. Not only was it the busiest freight line on the PE, it was also no slouch for passenger ridership. On October 29, 1946 photographer Al Haij shot this busy scene at the San Pedro Station. On the left the Station Agent checks the LCL express that the Box Motor has left. Cars 1054 and 1022 are just in from LA with Combo 1376 and another 1200 soon to leave for the City. Car 1018 to the right will run on the Long Beach - San Pedro Line through Wilmington.

Historical Notes

The SS City of Los Angeles was part of the Los Angeles Steamship Company line that sailed the highly competitive California-Hawaii market.

Historical Notes

Originally commissioned as USS Grosser Kurfürst, the ship was renamed Aeolus — after the god of wind in Greek mythology — while undergoing repairs and conversion at a U.S. Navy yard. The ship carried almost 25,000 men to France during the hostilities, and returned over 27,000 healthy and wounded men after the Armistice.

After decommissioning by the U.S. Navy, the ship was turned over to the United States Shipping Board and underwent a $3,000,000 refit in Baltimore, Maryland, and was transferred to the Munson Steamship Company for whom she carried passengers and freight to and from South American ports as SS Aeolus.

In 1922 the ship was assigned to the Los Angeles Steamship Co. and renamed SS City of Los Angeles and sailed to and from Los Angeles and Honolulu. In 1937, the ship was sold for scrapping in Japan.^

Historical Notes

The SS California was the World's first major ocean liner built with turbo-electric transmission. When launched in 1927 she was also the largest merchant ship yet built in the US, although she was a modest size compared with the biggest European liners of her era.

In March 1936 an unofficial strike aboard SS California in port at San Pedro, held without the sanction of the International Seamen's Union, led to the foundation of the National Maritime Union.

In 1938 California was renamed SS Uruguay.  From 1942 to 1946 she was operated through agents by the War Shipping Administration as the troopship Uruguay.  She was returned to civilian service as SS Uruguay in 1948, laid up in 1954 and scrapped in 1964.*^

Historical Notes

Cabrillo Beach is named after Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo, who was the first European to sail along the coast of California.

Historical Notes

The Cabrillo Beach Bath House was originally built in 1932 and used for the 1932 Olympic Games. It was rehabilitated in 2002.

Historical Notes

In the early 1900s, the ocean water traveled right up to the cliffs; there was no sand between the cliffs of San Pedro and the ocean. So after completion of the breakwater, sand was added in 1927 in order to create the outer beach. The addition of sand was from the harbor dredging.  As a result of the addition of sand, the expansive outer beach of Cabrillo was created. Cabrillo Beach opened in 1928, and residents of San Pedro, Wilmington, and Los Angeles flooded to it to enjoy the new Southern California beach. The San Pedro city leaders were excited to have a newly added destination for visitors and residents to enjoy in San Pedro.*

Historical Notes

In 1993, the Cabrillo Beach Bathouse, located at 3720 Stephen White Drive, was dedicated LA Cultural-Monument No. 571 (Click HERE for complete listing).

Historical Notes

September 1939 - The top photo shows erosion and clean up efforts at Cabrillo Beach in San Pedro after a tropical storm hit Southern California.

Historical Notes

Originally the San Pedro Branch of Los Angeles Public Library from 1906-1923, this structure was built with an initial grant of $10,000 from Andrew Carnegie, followed by a supplementary $375 from Carnegie and $500 from the city. Architects Edelsvard and Saffell, as well as H. V. Bradbeer, have been credited with the design of the Classical Revival style building.

After it served as the office of the San Pedro Chamber of Commerce, it was the Seamen's Library until 1966, when it was demolished to make way for the Maritime Industry Memorial.*

Historical Notes

The San Pedro City Hall Building seen above would be domolished in 1927 to make way for a new 7-story City Hall and Municipal Building (1928).

Historical Notes

The new San Pedro City Hall and Municipal Building was built on the same site where the previous San Pedro City Hall Building stood between 1909 and 1928.

Historical Notes

Opened in 1928, this seven-story Beaux Arts was built by the Charles W. Pettifer Construction Company under the supervision of Charles O. Brittain of the City of Los Angeles Construction Dept. Specific floors were used for certain purposes: the ground floor basement was a fire station then converted into a garage, the 6th floor included a courtroom, and the 7th floor held an old jail known as, "7th Heaven." *

Historical Notes

Also known as "San Pedro City Hall", the seven-story Beaux Arts building is the tallest building in San Pedro. It includes an old jail, a wood-paneled courtroom, and a fire station converted into a museum.*^

In 2002, the San Pedro Municipal Building was dedicated LA Historic-Cultural Monument No. 732 (Click HERE for complete listing).

Historical Notes

Note the dual-lamp style streetlight posts.  One side is capped off either for energy conservation or for keeping illumination levels to a minimum. Click HERE to see more in Early L.A. Streetlights.

Historical Notes

Van de Kamp's Holland Dutch Bakeries was a bakery founded in 1915 and headquartered in the Van de Kamp Bakery Building in Los Angeles. The company's trademark blue windmills featured on their grocery store signs and atop their chain of famous restaurants that were known throughout the region.

The bakery was sold by the Van de Kamp family and acquired by General Baking Co. in 1956. The company was sold to private investors in 1979, and closed in bankruptcy in 1990.

Former Los Angeles County District Attorney John Van de Kamp is a grandson of the baker's founder. The family also founded Lawry's Restaurants and the Tam O'Shanter Inn.*^

Historical Notes

Launched as the S.S. Virginia, the passenger ship carried passengers between Chicago and Milwaukee.  In 1918, she was requisition by the Navy for use in the first world war and renamed the U.S.S. Blueridge.  However, to get her through the St. Lawrence River locks, her bow and 6 feet of her stern had to be cut off and later reassembled.

While waiting for orders in Boston harbor, the Navy finally decided she was no longer needed and she was sold as surplus to William Wrigley, owner of the famous chewing gum company and Catalina Island.

The ship was renamed Avalon and was sent from New York via the Panama Canal, arriving April 5, 1920 and moored at the Catalina Terminal.  However, her debut would not take place until the arrival of William Wrigley Jr.  On April 15, 1920, the Avalon left on her first trip to Catalina, taking her full capacity of 3,000 people.*^#

Historical Notes

The Avalon was tied up to the Catalina terminal, at the foot of a Canal street that ran through San Pedro.  At some point in time around 1921, the ship's name was bestowed upon Canal Street and changed to Avalon Blvd.*^#

Historical Notes

In 1931, Philip Wrigley helped design a unique airport at Hamilton Cove, the second cove north of Avalon on Catalina Island. This airport was designed to accommodate the Douglas Dolphin amphibian planes of the Wilmington-Catalina Air Line, Ltd., a Wrigley-operated firm. The twin engine Dolphins landed just offshore and would taxi up a ramp to a large turntable mechanism. The airplane would then be rotated until it was facing the water and ready for a trip back to the mainland. A small Spanish-style terminal building welcomed residents, business people and tourists to Catalina.+#

Click HERE to see views of the airport at Hamilton Cove, Catalina.

Historical Notes

In the late 1920's tourist traffic to the Catalina Island was increasing at the rate of 20% annually. In July, August and September of 1929, the S.S. CABRILLO, S. S. AVALON and S. S. CATALINA carried a combined total of 500,000 passengers. The 3 ships offered a total of 5 sailings daily each way.^^*

Historical Notes

Cord was the brand name of an American automobile company from Connersville, Indiana, manufactured by the Auburn Automobile Company from 1929 through 1932 and again in 1936 and 1937.*^

Historical Notes

This building, located at the end of Avalon Boulevard, is now the site of a 1995 community center called Banning's Landing (101 East Water Street).*

Historical Notes

Commonly referred to as the Great White Steamer, the ship was specially built by William Wrigley to serve his Catalina Island as a passenger ferry. She was christened on May 23, 1924. During World War II, she was requisitioned for use as a troop carrier, but in 1946 she resumed her voyages to Avalon.*^*

Historical Notes

Among the passengers were movie stars and famous athletes who laughed, danced and drank their way to the island "26 miles across the sea." The S.S. Catalina even hosted 2 United States Presidents at different times. In those days, passengers dressed for the crossing. Gentlemen wore jackets and ties and the ladies dresses and coats, with some carrying umbrellas to protect them from the sun.^^*

Historical Notes

The sons of Phineas Banning bought the island in 1891 from the estate of James Lick and established the Santa Catalina Island Company to develop it as a resort. In 1919, William Wrigley, Jr. bought out almost every share holder until he owned controlling interest in the Santa Catalina Island Company.  The Wilmington Transportation Company which operated the boats between San Pedro and Catalina was now also owned by Wrigley. The S.S. Catalina was built under his direction in 1924.*^

Historical Notes

The S.S. Catalina has been recognized as a Historic-Cultural Monument, No. 213 (Click HERE to see the LA Historic-Cultural Monuments List) and also California State Historic Landmark No. 894 (Click HERE to see more California Historic Landmarks in LA). She was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1976.

Historical Notes

In the early part of the 20th century, Southern Pacific and Pacific Electric trains made their way to San Pedro using trestles to traverse the tidal waters that surrounded it. These railroad bridges made it impossible for ships to use the waterways, so in 1907 the U.S. War Department ordered that the trestles be replaced by drawbridges of the bascule type.

The Badger bridge in the port of Los Angeles was originally constructed in 1924 and served as the only rail road link to Terminal Island. It was built to accommodate operations at the Ford Long Beach Assembly plant which opened in 1930 and was closed in 1959.

Historical Notes

Southern Pacific’s engineering department designed the Strauss bascule bridge, named after the type of bascule designed by Chicago engineer Joseph Strauss, who would later design the Golden Gate Bridge.

Historical Notes

A bascule bridge is a type of drawbridge that employs a counterweight to lift its center section so that ships can pass underneath. The first one was built in Russia in 1850, and they grew in favor among civil engineers because they could be opened quickly – San Pedro’s span took 50 seconds to raise - without using much energy.

Historical Notes

Designed to carry two rail lines, two lanes of auto traffic and a pedestrian lane this bridge was 70 feet wide. It was reported to be the largest and heaviest of its kind in the world. The bridge is a trunnion bascule bridge. It was designed by the master of trunnion bascule bridge design, Joseph B. Strauss who also was the chief engineer for the Golden Gate Bridge. One of the rail lines on the bridge was a trolley line which was removed in the 1940's.

Historical Notes

The San Pedro line used the bascule bridge for decades to bring passengers to and from the Harbor Area. The alternate West Basin Line had to be used during World War II, when the Coast Guard ordered that the bridge remain in the open position as a security measure.

Historical Notes

As ridership on the Red Cars began to decrease due to the growing use of buses and personal automobiles following the war, an unfortunate accident occurred that led to the demise of the bascule bridge. On Sept. 28, 1955, a passing ship rammed into the bridge’s counterweight hinge mechanism, damaging it beyond repair. Passengers had to use the West Basin Line, which took about 10 minutes longer. The bridge could not be saved. It was deconstructed shortly thereafter, its iron sold for scrap.

The original 1924 bascule bridge was dismantled and replaced in 1996 by a vertical-lift bridge.

Historical Notes

The Commodore Schuyler F. Heim Bridge has a significant history in the Port of Los Angeles area. The original bridge (seen above), dedicated on January 10, 1948, was a vertical-lift bridge constructed over the Cerritos Channel by the U.S. Navy from 1946 to 1948. It allowed State Route 47 (Terminal Island Freeway) to cross the channel and was named after Schuyler F. Heim, who commanded the Naval Air Station on Terminal Island in 1942. At the time of its opening, it was one of the largest vertical-lift bridges on the West Coast and the highest in the country. The bridge's deck weighed about 820 short tons and was supported by towers 186 feet tall above the roadway deck. 

Historical Notes

The bridges span the Cerritos Channel in the Port of Los Angeles, connecting Terminal Island to the mainland. The Henry Ford Bridge (Badger Avenue Bridge) carried rail traffic, while the Schuyler Heim Bridge carried vehicular traffic.

Historical Notes

The original Schuyler Heim Bridge, which served the area for nearly 70 years, was decommissioned on October 12, 2015, and demolished in 2016. It was replaced by a new fixed-span concrete bridge designed to meet current seismic and safety standards. The new Schuyler Heim Bridge, which opened to traffic in September 2020, features seven lanes, including a southbound auxiliary lane and standard emergency shoulders. It remains a vital link for goods movement between Terminal Island and the mainland, now enhanced with improved safety and seismic resilience.

The original Henry Ford Bridge, also known as the Badger Avenue Bridge, was a double-leaf bascule railroad bridge constructed in 1924. Serving as a crucial transportation link for rail traffic across the Cerritos Channel, the bridge was dismantled in 1994 and replaced by a new vertical-lift bridge, which opened in 1996. This bridge continues to facilitate rail traffic in the Los Angeles-Long Beach Harbor area, retaining the name "Henry Ford Bridge.

Historical Notes

The Henry Ford Bridge and Schuyler Heim Bridge have been vital to the Port of Los Angeles, enabling the movement of goods, vehicles, and rail traffic between Terminal Island and the mainland. These bridges supported the port's growth into a major global facility, with the Henry Ford Bridge playing a key role in the early expansion of the Los Angeles-Long Beach Harbor. Both bridges were replaced to meet increasing demands— the Henry Ford Bridge in 1996 for modern rail traffic and the Schuyler Heim Bridge in 2020 for enhanced vehicle traffic. These upgrades improved safety and efficiency, further contributing to the region's economic growth by ensuring reliable transportation links for one of the world's busiest ports.

Historical Notes

San Pedro High School is home to two protected landmarks, the Administration Building and Language Arts Building. Both were constructed in 1936 under mandate from the Works Progress Administration. San Pedro High School also has a Mathematics and Sciences Building, a Vocational Arts Building, a cafeteria, numerous bungalow-style classrooms, and three gymnasiums.

In 2003, San Pedro High School celebrated its 100th Anniversary.*^

Historical Notes

San Pedro High School and the surrounding area is where much of the filming for Some Kind of Wonderful was done.*^

Historical Notes

In the San Pedro High School Library the murals called “Industrial Life in San Pedro” were painted by Thomas Tyrone Comfort in 1937. The murals are oil on canvas. It consists of nine panels, four are 4x8 feet and five are 10x8 feet. He was an FAP, Federal Arts Project muralist and illustrator. Very few examples of his work exist because he died at the age of thirty in 1939. However some of his work resides in the White House.***#

Historical Notes

The Coast Guard began as the Revenue Cutter Service which was founded on August 4, 1790 as part of the Department of the Treasury. An act of the U.S. Congress created the Coast Guard in 1915, with the merger of the Revenue Cutter Service and the United States Lifesaving Service. The US Lighthouse Service was merged into the Coast Guard in 1939. The legal basis for the Coast Guard is Title 14 of the United States Code, which states: "The Coast Guard as established January 28, 1915, shall be a military service and a branch of the armed forces of the United States at all times." During wartime, the Coast Guard reports to the Department of Defense.

The Coast Guard later moved to the Department of Transportation in 1967, and on March 1, 2003 it became part of the Department of Homeland Security.*^

Historical Notes

The S.S. Monterey was a luxury ocean liner launched on October 10, 1931.  It was one of four ships in the Matson Lines "White Fleet" which included SS Malolo, SS Mariposa and SS Lurline. Monterey, the third of four Matson ships designed by William Francis Gibbs was identical to Mariposa and very similar to her sister ship Lurline.
During World War II she was used as a troopship operated as one of the large, fast transports capable of sailing independently by agents of the War Shipping Administration serving Army troop transport requirements. The ship was involved in an attack on a convoy near Cape Bougaroun.*^

Historical Notes

Monterey was built to promote travel to Hawaii and for Pacific Ocean liner service including regular stops in ports along the West Coast of the United States, Samoa, Fiji, New Zealand and Australia. On 12 May 1932 she took 83 passengers from New York City to the West Coast on a positioning cruise. Her maiden voyage officially began 3 June 1932 in San Francisco, California after which she made stops in Los Angeles, Honolulu, Auckland, Pago Pago, Suva, Sydney and Melbourne. She scored a public relations triumph when she carried much-appreciated supplies to the Bear of Oakland on Byrd's second expedition to the South Pole.

In World War II Monterey served as a fast troop carrier, often operating alone so she would not be slowed by formation navigation in a convoy. The United States Maritime Commission chartered her in 1941 before the US declaration of war to carry 150 Chinese, Korean and Japanese missionaries and stranded US citizens back to San Francisco. Once home, she was quickly refitted to hold 3,500 soldiers. On December 16, 1941 she steamed to Hawaii with 3,349 fresh troops, returning with 800 casualties of the attack on Pearl Harbor.*^

Historical Notes

Before the Vincent Thomas Bridge was completed in 1963, ferries transported thousands of passengers and vehicles to and from the canneries and military bases on Terminal Island.*^

Historical Notes

So who invented the rumble seat? It was Sir Hubert Malcolm Rhumble, a prominent carriage designer of England’s late 1800s. He designed a coachman’s seat that stuck in the car lexicon, according to the Automobilist Magazine in August 1958. In early vintage automobiles the trunk lid folded back to form a seat area, sometimes called a “mother-in-law” seat. In that era, it must have been the stuff of some pretty good jokes.*#^#

Historical Notes

The two-story service station and office was demolished at in 1966.  Today, J & J Body Shop exists where the service station once stood.  Click HERE to see contemporary view.

HANCOCK Oil Company was headquartered in Los Angeles. In the 1850’s, lawyer Henry Hancock helped the Rocha family establish their legal claim to Rancho La Brea, but they ended up owing him so much in fees that they gave him part of the rancho in payment. In 1860 Hancock and his brother bought the rest of the rancho. Hancock began to sell asphalt produced from the famous tar pits that gave the rancho its name. This was the beginning of the Hancock Oil Company. In 1885 Hancock’s widow leased part of the rancho to eastern oil men who went bust by 1888. But in 1902, Mrs. Hancock leased part of the rancho to the Salt Lake Oil Company, which proved a great success. Henry Hancock’s son, George A. Hancock, who had learned the oil business working for Salt Lake, established his own company in 1906. By February 1907, he had over 70 wells producing nearly 300 barrels a day, making the Hancocks one of California’s wealthiest families. The Hancock family built Hancock Park, a large upscale apartment community. The Hancock Oil Company was sold to Signal Oil in 1958. The 1965 Signal was sold to Humble, and both the Hancock and Signal brands vanished.*

Click HERE to see more Early Views of LA Gas Stations.

Historical Notes

Banning High School was renamed in honor of General Phineas Banning when a newer facility at Avalon and Pacific Coast Highway was opened in 1926 (previously Wilmington High School). The 'old' red brick building was a landmark in the Wilmington town for many years. The ivy covered brick building suffered damage in the 1971 Sylmar earthquake and was torn down in 1973.*^

Historical Notes

For three years, classes were held in bungalows while the new building was being constructed. In fall 1975, the new building was opened on the grounds with a Lakme Avenue address. Along with the new building, a new gym and swimming pool were added to the campus—the home of the Banning Pilots.*^

Historical Notes

The Wilmington Oil Field was discovered in 1932 and is the third largest oil field in the United States. The field runs roughly southeast to northwest through the Los Angeles Basin, stretching from the middle of San Pedro Bay through Long Beach and east of the Palos Verdes Peninsula. The field originally contained approximately 3 billion barrels of reserves. As of 2002, approximately 90% of its original reserves had been recovered, leaving approximately 300 million barrels.

The offshore portion of the oil field is developed largely through wells drilled directionally from THUMS Islands, four artificial islands in Long Beach Harbor.*^

Historical Notes

The historic Greek Revival-Victorian Banning House was built in 1863 by Phineas Banning near the original San Pedro Bay. It remained in the Banning family until 1925 and has been owned by the City of Los Angeles since 1927. The home, barn and gardens are now operated as a museum.*^

Historical Notes

The Banning Residence was lived in by three generations of the Banning family until it and the surrounding land were acquired by the City of Los Angeles in 1927. Eighteen rooms of the house containing furniture and decorative elements added during 60 years of Banning family residence in the house are shown to the public during regular tours of the house and grounds. #^*

Historical Notes

In 1963, the Banning House property, also known as Banning Park, was designated as Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monument No. 25 (Click HERE to see complete listing).  It is also California Historical Landmark No. 147 (Click HERE to see more in California Historical Landmarks in LA) as well as being federally listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Historical Notes

Spence Air Photos was a one-man company ~ photographer, "Robert Earl Spence". He began shooting aerials in 1918. In the 1920s he had numerous clients hiring him to shoot homes and businesses. Spence would shoot images at an angle, not straight down, showing many additional building details. Spence was not a pilot, he hired an airplane pilot to fly him overhead while he leaned out from the cockpit with a bulky camera to get angled shots of the landscape. His method captured the details of the homes and their surroundings all the way to the horizon. He continued to photograph homes for 50 years.

In 1971, Spence retired and donated his collection of 110,000 negatives to the University of California Geography Department. He passed away in 1974.****^

At UCLA, the Spence Collection is part of The Benjamin and Gladys Thomas Air Photo Archives.

Historical Notes

Originally known as the Warner Bros Theatre, the Warner Grand Theatre was the first sound-equipped theatre in the South Bay. It opened to the public on January 20, 1931, with a star-studded gala premier. Jack Warner christened it "The Castle of Your Dreams." *^

Historical Notes

The design of the Warner Grand Theatre was a collaboration by architect B. Marcus Priteca and interior designer Anthony Heinsbergen, in the Art Deco—Moderne style. It was one of three similarly lavish Los Angeles area Art Deco movie palaces on which Priteca and Heinsbergen collaborated for the Warner Bros. company in the early 1930s. The Warner Beverly Hills Theatre has been demolished, and the Huntington Park Warner, closed for many years, has been extensively altered, leaving the Grand as the last of the three original theaters remaining intact.

Priteca later designed Hollywood's famous Pantages Theatre.*^

Historical Notes

The theatre interior was designed by Antoon (Anthony) B. Heinsbergen and featured grand, wood-carved ceilings with a copper, gold, and silver sunburst design, Art Deco tile and lighting fixtures, and ornate wall tapestries.

In the 1980s, the theatre was renamed the Warner Grand and in 1982 it was dedicated Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monument No. 251 (Click HERE to see complete listing).

Historical Notes

The Warner Grand Theatre went through numerous incarnations over the years, including the San Pedro Theatre (1937), the Stanley Warner San Pedro Theatre (1956), the Warner Theatre (1957), and the Stanley Warner Theatre (1959). In the 1970s, the venue became a Mexican film house called Teatro Juarez. During this period, changes to the opulent interior included covering the plush velvet seats in red, green, and beige vinyl as an homage to the Mexican flag. #***

Historical Notes

The theater was facing possible demolition or re-development when, in 1995, a local group of activists formed the Grand Vision Foundation to work for the preservation of the historic building. Their efforts were successful when the theater was purchased by the Cultural Affairs Department (later renamed the Department of Cultural Affairs) of the City of Los Angeles in 1996. Efforts to both restore and program the theater have been ongoing since the acquisition.

In 1999, the Warner was added to the National Register of Historic Places as building #98001633.

Warner Grand Theatre currently hosts foreign films, art films, and family films presented by Cinema Grand, Grand Vision Foundation, the Los Angeles Harbor International Film Festival, and the San Pedro International Film Festival.*^

Historical Notes

Terminal Island, home to a vibrant and flourishing Japanese fishing village before residents were evicted and imprisoned during World War II, has recently been named one of America’s most endangered historic places by the National Trust for Historic Preservation. #**

Historical Notes

Following President Franklin D. Roosevelt issuing Executive Order 9066 on Feb. 19, 1942, the first major Los Angeles relocation of Japanese and Japanese Americans occurred at Terminal Island.

By 1942 about 3,000 residents lived in the Japanese fishing community on Terminal Island, also called East San Pedro or Fish Harbor. After Pearl Harbor, many male Japanese residents were detained by the FBI and all Japanese-owned fishing boats impounded. ^**

Historical Notes

On Feb. 21, 1942, the U.S. Navy began condemnation proceedings to remove all residents – mostly Japanese – from areas near naval bases on Terminal Island. Within a week, further military orders led to clearing all residents in a mass move documented by the Los Angeles Times.^**

Historical Notes

In the days following the detention and transfer of residents to Manzanar. The robust fishing and cannery businesses will not reestablish themselves after the war.

Historical Notes

Terminal Island launched a worldwide tuna canning industry that made tuna-fish a staple of American households and played a crucial role in both World Wars as a major shipbuilding center. The shipyards in the area employed about 90,000 men and women of all ethnicities at the height during World War II. *

Historical Notes

Terminal Island played a key role in both World Wars, setting world records for quick production of ships for the war effort.

Bethlehem Shipbuilding Corporation operated the site as a repair facility until 1941, when the specter of another world war led the U.S. Maritime Administration to assist with a $4.5 million project to ready the facilities for shipbuilding once again. This time, instead of merchant marine vessels, the shipyard would produce Fletcher class destroyers, a new kind of naval defense ship. The first ship to launch from the yard was the USS Kendrick in April 1942; the last was the USS Hardwood, christened in 1945. According to the employee manual, "Never before in the history of the world have so many people taken part in a production battle of this kind, and never before has the fate of nations depended so much on the people on the production front."  #***

Historical Notes

Hull 96 would become the USCGC Staten Island, an ice breaker, she will see service in the Second World War and continue well into the 1970's. Here she sees the water for the first time as the men and women who built her look on. #**

Historical Notes

USS Cassin Young (DD-793), a Fletcher-class destroyer, was a ship of the U.S. Navy named for Captain Cassin Young (1894–1942), who was awarded the Medal of Honor for his heroism at the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor and who was killed in the Naval Battle of Guadalcanal in the fall of 1942.

Cassin Young (DD-793) was launched 12 September 1943 by Bethlehem Steel Corp., San Pedro, California; sponsored by Mrs. C. Young; and commissioned 31 December 1943, Commander E. T. Schrieber in command.

After serving in World War II, including the Battle of Leyte Gulf and the Battle of Okinawa, the Cassin Young continued in active service until 1960. She is preserved today as a memorial ship, berthed at Boston Navy Yard in Massachusetts, across from the old warship the USS Constitution. She was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1986 as one of only four surviving Fletcher-class destroyers still afloat.*^

Historical Notes

Western Avenue stretches from the southern tip of Griffith Park in the Los Feliz area of Los Angeles all the way down to Paseo del Mar at Royal Palms County Beach in San Pedro.

The 28-mile thoroughfare is one of the longest streets in Los Angeles County. (Some say Sepulveda Boulevard is the longest at 42.8 miles from the north Valley to the Long Beach border; the two roads intersect at Torrance’s eastern border with Harbor City.)

The four-mile section between Torrance Boulevard and Pacific Coast Highway in Lomita ended up being the final link to the completion of Western from Hollywood to San Pedro. It was opened in April 1950.

The section through San Pedro finally was completed as a direct thoroughfare all the way to the coast late in 1958, when work on the final segment between 9th and 19th streets was finished.^

Historical Notes

Rancho Palos Verdes and the Portuguese Bend are visible on the bottom left corner; San Pedro (large inhabited area) and Point Fermin (peak that stretches out) are at bottom middle; the white "thread" extending outward toward the right of the Pacific Ocean are the fishing pier and Middle Breakwater. Terminal Island (lower center) is identified by the smallish "islet", which is connected to the Port of Long Beach (middle right, arched area). The city of Long Beach spans far into the distance.

Portuguese Bend was the site of an old 1800s whaling station. The site was designated California Historical Landmark No. 381 (Click HERE to see more in California Historical Landmarks in Los Angeles).

Historical Notes

White Point is a popular coastal destination year round and is home to some of the most diverse tide pools in Southern California. The tide pools extend about a mile south of White Point to Point Fermin Park. At the turn of the century, this secluded cove was settled by immigrant fishermen who were attracted by the vast beds of abalone off the peninsula. Later, the discovery of geothermal sulfur hot springs brought the development of an ocean-side health spa and resort. An earthquake in the 1930's all but closed off the springs. In more recent years, the favorite activity in this busy area is trying to find sea slugs and octopus among the large rock benches and deep pools.*

Historical Notes

The San Pedro Municipal Ferry Building was built in 1941 as a Works Project Administration project. Designed by B. Irvine in the Streamline Moderne style, the building was a working ferry terminal from 1941 to 1963.^

Historical Notes

Ferry service discontinue after 22 years when the new Vincent Thomas Bridge opened in 1963.

Historical Notes

Before the Vincent Thomas Bridge was built, hundreds of cannery and shipyard workers made their daily passage from San Pedro to Terminal Island aboard ferry boats. State Assemblyman Vincent Thomas thought the ferry system inadequate, and proposed the bridge to replace it.

Historical Notes

Originally the San Pedro Branch of Los Angeles Public Library from 1906-1923, this structure was built with an initial grant of $10,000 from Andrew Carnegie, followed by a supplementary $375 from Carnegie and $500 from the city. Architects Edelsvard and Saffell, as well as H. V. Bradbeer, have been credited with the design of the Classical Revival style building.

After it served as the office of the San Pedro Chamber of Commerce, it was the Seamen's Library until 1966, when it was demolished to make way for the Maritime Industry Memorial.*

Historical Notes

Ferry service discontinue after 22 years when the new Vincent Thomas Bridge opened in 1963.

Historical Notes

Beginning in 1976 the building exterior was restored and the interior remodeled into the Los Angeles Maritime Museum, which opened in 1979. It is the largest maritime museum on the West Coast.

Historical Notes

Ports O' Call, an entertainment and shopping complex modeled after a 19th Century New England fishing village, opened in 1963 and experienced steady popularity for many years. As tastes began to change in the late-1980s, some attractions were removed but many restaurants continued to serve customers for another 30 years. Despite lawsuits and public outcry, all of the Ports O' Call structures, except the San Pedro Fish Market, were demolished in 2018 to make way for West Harbor, a new development designed by James Corner Field Operations.^

Historical Notes

In 2016, the Los Angeles Board of Harbor Commissioners approved a 50-year lease for the new San Pedro Public Market on the site. Plans for San Pedro Public Market include restaurants, shopping, fresh markets, office space and a waterfront promenade with outdoor space and an open-air amphitheater.^

Historical Notes

The Vincent Thomas Bridge is the first suspension span ever to be built on steel piles — 990 of them were sunk to hold it up, instead of the more traditional concrete supports. And it is the first to be built entirely without rivets; the steel is welded together.

Historical Notes

The bridge is 6,060 feet long, 52 feet wide, 365 feet tall.  Its longest span is 1,500 feet, and the clearance below is 185 feet.

Historical Notes

Construction of the bridge required: 14,100 tons of steel; 1,270 tons of suspension cable; 92,000 tons of Portland cement; and 13,000 tons of lightweight concrete.

Historical Notes

The main span of the Vincent Thomas Bridge is 1,500 feet long as compared to the Golden Gate Bridge at 4,200 feet long.

Historical Notes

California Assemblyman Vincent Thomas, who represented San Pedro, spent 19 years beginning in 1940 arguing for the 16 different pieces of legislation that were necessary for its construction. When the bridge opened in 1963, Thomas was the longest-serving assembyman. In 1961, the legislature passed a special Concurrent Resolution 131 in order to name it after him while he was still serving.*^

Historical Notes

In 1963, the Vincent Thomas Bridge was completed connecting the mainland to Terminal Island, and there was no longer a need for ferry service. Accordingly, the ferry service was terminated. The terminal building on the Terminal Island side was demolished, but the building on the San Pedro side was used for many years as an office building by the Los Angeles Harbor Department. As the ferry building began to deteriorate, citizens of San Pedro sought to have it restored. They succeeded in having the building designated as a Historic-Cultural Monument (No. 146) in 1975, and starting in 1976 the building was renovated and converted into the Los Angeles Maritime Museum. The museum opened in 1979. The building was listed in the National Register of Historic Places in 1996.

Historical Notes

The Volkswagen Beetle, or informally the Volkswagen Bug, was produced from 1938 until 2003. The need for this kind of car, and its functional objectives, were formulated by Adolf Hitler, leader of Nazi Germany, wishing for a cheap, simple car to be mass-produced for the new road network of his country. He contracted Porsche in 1934 to design and build it to his exacting standards. Ferdinand Porsche and his team took until 1938 to finalize the design.

This is one of the first rear-engined cars. With over 21 million manufactured in an air-cooled, rear-engined, rear-wheel drive configuration, the Beetle is the longest-running and most-manufactured car of a single design platform, worldwide.

Historical Notes

The original 25 hp Beetle was designed for a top speed around 100 km/h (62 mph), which would be a viable cruising speed on the Reichsautobahn system. As Autobahn speeds increased in the postwar years, its output was boosted to 36, then 40 hp, the configuration that lasted through 1966 and became the "classic" Volkswagen motor.

Historical Notes

SS Statendam was an ocean liner of the Holland America Line built in 1957. She was bought by the Paquet group in 1982 and renamed Rhapsody and sold again to the Lelakis group in 1986. Later she became part of the Regency Cruises fleet and was named Regent Star in the Regency fleet. She was laid up after the Regency Cruises bankruptcy and remained in poor condition for many years. She was scrapped in Alang, India in 2004.

Historical Notes

SS Catalina, also known as The Great White Steamer, was a 301-foot steamship built in 1924 that provided passenger service on the 26-mile passage between Los Angeles and Santa Catalina Island from 1924 to 1975. According to the Steamship Historical Society of America, Catalina has carried more passengers than any other vessel anywhere. From August 25, 1942 until April 22, 1946 the ship served as the Army troop ferry transporting more than 800,000 troops and other military personnel between embarkation camps and the departure piers. After a period of service as a floating discothèque, the ship ran aground on a sandbar in Ensenada Harbor in 1997 and partially sank on the spot. It was scrapped in 2009.

Historical Notes

RMS Caronia was a passenger ship of the Cunard Line (then Cunard White Star Line). Launched on 30 October 1947, she served with Cunard until 1967. She was initially nicknamed the "Green Goddess" after Liverpool's green and white "Green Goddess" trams, and the nickname stuck. She was one of the first "dual-purpose" ships, built both for 2-class transatlantic crossings and all 1st-class cruising. After leaving Cunard she briefly served as SS Caribia in 1969, after which she was laid up in New York until 1974 when she was sold for scrap. While being towed to Taiwan for scrapping, she was caught in a storm on 12 August. After her tow lines were cut, she repeatedly crashed on the rocky breakwater outside Apra Harbor, Guam and broke into three sections.

Historical Notes

When the Bridge opened in 1963, a 25-cent toll was collected in each direction. On grand opening day, Assemblyman Thomas paid the first toll. In 1983, the toll increased to 50 cents for westbound traffic and was free for eastbound traffic.  In 2000, the Bridge was considered “paid for” and the toll was repealed.

Historical Notes

Skeptics predicted it would serve fewer than 2,000 vehicles a day and that it would take taxpayers 40 years to pay for the $21-million structure. In its first month of operation, however, the bridge served a daily average of 9,631 vehicles. And most of the debt was paid off within 20 years.

Historical Notes

The Vincent Thomas Bridge now carries 26,500 vehicles a day. It is widely credited with providing a crucial transportation link to the Port of Los Angeles and of aiding the port’s phenomenal growth.

Historical Notes

San Pedro Harbor, part of the Port of Los Angeles, employs various cranes critical to its operations and environmental goals. The port is transitioning to sustainable technologies, replacing older diesel cranes with electric and hybrid models to reduce emissions significantly. Notable advancements include the introduction of an electric mobile ship-loading crane and a hydrogen fuel cell-powered crane, both of which eliminate emissions. These efforts align with the port's commitment to becoming a zero-emission facility while maintaining efficient cargo handling.

Historical Notes

USS Iowa was the lead ship of the last class of U.S. Navy battleships to be built by the United States. The battleship was originally commissioned in 1943, and served during World War II, the Korean War, and through the Cold War. Iowa earned 11 battle stars during her career and hosted three U.S. Presidents, ultimately earning the nicknames Battleship of Presidents and Big Stick. Iowa was awarded to the Pacific Battleship Center on September 6, 2011 for display at the Port of Los Angeles in San Pedro, California – home to the United States Battle Fleet from 1919 to 1940.

Historical Notes

The World Cruise Terminal at the Port of Los Angeles (passenger and cargo ternminals at Berth 93), opened in 1963. It was designed by AIA award-winning architect Edward H. Fickett, F.A.I.A. 

The terminal which hosted the original Love Boat TV series from 1977 to 1986 was modernized and expanded in 2010-11 to accommodate the most modern megaships.

Historical Notes

Located in the San Pedro District beneath the Vincent Thomas Bridge, the World Cruise Center is th largest cruise ship terminal on the West Coast.  It has three passenger ship berths and transports over 1 million passengers annually.

Cruise lines served: Carnival Cruise Lines, Celebrity Cruises, Crystal Cruises, Cunard Line, Disney Cruise Line, Holland America Line, Princess Cruises, Norwegian Cruise Line, Royal Caribbean International, Seabourn Cruise Line, Silver Sea Cruises.

Historical Notes

The spectacular Vincent Thomas Bridge is the "Official Welcoming Monument" to Los Angeles. The suspension bridge daily welcomes thousands of people to LA's major seaport district of San Pedro as well as the port.

Historical Notes

The Port of Los Angeles World Cruise Center began life as a freight and passenger terminal for the American President Lines. It was later converted into a cruise ship facility and became home to the “Love Boat”. As the size and number of cruises ships increased, the cruise ship center underwent a 21 million dollar major renovation and improvement project in 2003. Today the Port of Los Angeles World Cruise Center serves as the West Coast’s largest cruise port with hundreds of thousands of passengers using the facility. It can accommodate the biggest cruise ships.

Historical Notes

Most of Los Angeles is visible in this computer-generated north-northeast perspective viewed from above the Pacific Ocean. In the foreground the hilly Palos Verdes peninsula lies to the left of the San Pedro and Long Beach harbors, and in the middle distance the various communities that comprise the greater Los Angeles area appear as shades of grey and white. In the distance the San Gabriel Mountains rise up to separate the basin from the Mojave Desert, which can be seen near the top of the image.

This 3-D perspective view was generated using topographic data from the Shuttle Radar Topography Mission (SRTM) and an enhanced color Landsat 5 satellite image mosaic. Topographic expression is exaggerated one and one-half times.

1. The Original Wienerschnitzel Restaurant
2. Saint John’s Episcopal Church
3. Saints Peter and Paul Catholic Church
4. Banning Residence Museum
5. Wilmington Cemetery
6. Drum Barracks Powder Magazine
7. Drum Barracks Civil War Museum
8. Banning Park Wrigley Historic District
9. Camphor Trees
10. Memory Chapel, Calvary Presbyterian Church
11. Old Wilmington Library
12. Masonic Lodge No. 198
13. Wilmington Waterfront Park
14. Banning’s Landing Community Center/
Phineas Banning Bronze Statue
15. Vincent Thomas Bridge
16. Catalina Sea and Air Terminal
17. Gateway Plaza Fanfare Fountains and Water Feature/ World Cruise Center
18. Port of Los Angeles Waterfront Red Car Line
19. Multiculturalism Statue
20. USS IOWA Battleship
21. Fireboat Ralph J. Scott/Fire Station 112
22. Los Angeles Port Police Headquarters
23. Port of Los Angeles Administration Building
24. Liberty Hill
25. John S. Gibson Park Memorials
26. Downtown Harbor (Under construction)
27. Warner Grand Theater

28. Historic Downtown San Pedro
29. San Pedro City Hall
30. Los Angeles Fire Department Museum
31. Los Angeles Maritime Museum
32. Ports O’Call Village
33. Vinegar Hill Historic District
34. U.S. Post Office, San Pedro
35. Muller House Museum
36. Timm’s Point/Timms Landing
37. CRAFTED at the Port of Los Angeles
38. 22nd St. Park
39. Cabrillo Way Marina
40. Japanese American Fishing Village Memorial
41. Municipal Warehouse No. 1
42. Cabrillo Marina
43. S.S. Lane Victory (Victory Ship)
44. Cabrillo Fishing Pier
45. Angels Gate Lighthouse (No pedestrian access)
46. World-Famous Whale Watching Tours and Premier Sportfishing
47. Cabrillo Beach Bathhouse & Outer Cabrillo Beach
48. Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo Statue
49. Cabrillo Marine Aquarium & Inner Cabrillo Beach
50. Stephen M. White Statue
51. Point Fermin Lighthouse
52. Korean Bell/Angels Gate Cultural Center
53. Fort MacArthur Military Museum/Battery Osgood Farley
54. Cirque du Soleil Totem – Oct 11 thru Nov 10

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