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

In 1542, Spanish explorer Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo sailed into what he called the ‘Bay of Smokes,’ named for the fires of Native villages along the shore. The south-facing bay was shallow and muddy, making it difficult to build wharves. Ships either anchored offshore and transferred goods by small boats or beached themselves at high tide.

San Pedro was named for Saint Peter of Alexandria, whose feast day, November 24, matched the date Cabrillo entered the bay. Santa Catalina Island, visible offshore on clear days, was claimed for Spain the following day on the feast of Saint Catherine.

Deadman’s Island later became a well-known harbor landmark before being removed in the 1920s to allow for harbor expansion.

Rancho San Pedro was one of the largest land grants in early Southern California. In 1784, the Spanish crown granted more than 75,000 acres to Juan Jose Dominguez, a retired soldier. The land stretched from present-day Compton south to the Palos Verdes Peninsula.

After Mexican independence, the rancho was re-granted in 1822 to Dominguez’s nephew, Cristobal Dominguez. His sons built adobe homes and raised cattle and sheep. Over time, disputes arose between the Dominguez and Sepulveda families over ownership boundaries. These legal battles lasted decades and were finally settled in the late 1800s, dividing the land into smaller parcels that later became modern cities.

This adobe house, built by Diego Sepulveda in the early 1850s, is considered the first two-story Monterey-style adobe in Southern California. At the time, San Pedro was little more than a small landing with a pier, a few buildings, and muddy roads.

In 1851, a young entrepreneur named Phineas Banning arrived in San Pedro. He quickly saw the potential for a major port and transportation center. Over the next decades, Banning would transform the region by building wharves, roads, railroads, and shipping operations.

The site of the Sepulveda adobe was later designated California Historical Landmark No. 380.

Historical Notes

Mrs. Carson was the daughter of Manuel Dominguez, heir to Rancho San Pedro. Dominguez was a major figure in early Los Angeles, serving as a local official under Spanish, Mexican, and American rule. He was also a delegate to California’s Constitutional Convention in 1849.

George H. Carson was a businessman and Mexican War veteran who married into the Dominguez family in 1857. Through marriage, he helped manage and later divide the rancho lands. After Manuel Dominguez’s death in 1882, the estate was divided among his six daughters, linking the land’s future to families such as Carson, Del Amo, and Watson.

The Dominguez adobe stood near what would become Wilmington. In 1858, Phineas Banning purchased land from Manuel Dominguez to create a harbor settlement for the City of Los Angeles. The community was first called New San Pedro and later renamed Wilmington after Banning’s hometown in Delaware.

Wilmington quickly became the inland port for Los Angeles, connected to the outer harbor at San Pedro by road, stagecoach, and later railroad.

Before large-scale harbor construction, the southern edge of Los Angeles was dominated by tidal flats and marshes. In 1852, Augustus W. Timms built a wharf and warehouse here, creating what many historians consider the first true port facility in the area.

Timms’ Landing served ships, stages, and freight operations for decades and became known as Timms’ Point. The site was later designated California Historical Landmark No. 384.

Early harbor conditions were unpredictable. Ships often ran aground due to shallow water and shifting tides. In some cases, vessels intentionally grounded to unload cargo using lighterage, a system where goods were transferred to smaller boats and ferried ashore.

The lack of a deep-water channel severely limited trade and delayed Los Angeles’ rise as a major port until extensive federal harbor improvements began in the early 1900s.

This painted scene captures the harbor before modern breakwaters and dredging. Small sailboats, wagons, sheds, and scattered buildings show a working waterfront still in transition. Deadman’s Island appears offshore, while early structures cluster along the shoreline.

Such images help document how informal and fragile the harbor remained well into the late 19th century.

Lumber piles, rail tracks, and shoreline buildings reflect growing industrial activity. Deadman’s Island remains visible in the distance. This period marks the shift from ranch-based land use to transportation and shipping infrastructure.

In 1857, the Dominguez family sold Phineas Banning land at the head of the slough northeast of San Pedro. Banning built wharves, warehouses, and steamships, turning Wilmington into the dominant shipping center of the bay.

Banning also operated stage lines carrying passengers and freight between the harbor, Los Angeles, and inland destinations as far as Arizona and Utah.

Built in 1863, the Wilmington Exchange Hotel was the town’s first hotel and a key stop for travelers. The attached building served as Phineas Banning’s first Wilmington residence. Stagecoaches connected the harbor to Los Angeles long before the railroad arrived.

The Los Angeles & San Pedro Railroad

First Railroad in Southern California

The Los Angeles and San Pedro Railroad was the first railroad built in Southern California. Completed in 1869, the 21-mile line connected San Pedro Bay with Los Angeles and began service on October 26 of that year.

The railroad was promoted by Phineas Banning to move freight quickly from ships at the harbor to the city. Before the railroad, goods were hauled by ox carts and wagons over rough roads. In 1873, the railroad was purchased by the Southern Pacific Railroad, securing the harbor’s long-term role in regional trade.

The new railroad sharply reduced the cost of moving goods and passengers between the harbor and Los Angeles. Freight rates dropped, and travel time was cut from days to hours.

Inbound dry goods were shipped to the city for six dollars per ton. Grain shipped out to the harbor cost two dollars and fifty cents per ton. A one-way passenger ticket between Los Angeles and the harbor cost one dollar and fifty cents. Harbor commerce more than doubled between 1869 and 1871.

Despite the railroad, the harbor remained shallow and undeveloped. Large ships anchored offshore and transferred cargo by small boats and rafts. Lumber, badly needed for growing towns, was especially difficult to handle under these conditions.

The railroad improved inland access, but true harbor growth required major changes to the shoreline and water depth.

By the late 1860s, Phineas Banning understood that three improvements were needed for San Pedro Harbor to succeed: a railroad, a breakwater, and a dredged channel.

The railroad was completed in 1869. In 1871, Congress approved funding for a rock jetty extending from Rattlesnake Island toward Deadman’s Island. That same year, Banning dredged the Wilmington channel to a depth of ten feet, greatly improving shipping capacity.

Historical Notes

Deadman’s Island was one of two small islands near San Pedro. The other, Rattlesnake Island, later became part of Terminal Island.

Rock breakwaters helped control tidal flows and reduce sediment buildup. Deadman’s Island itself was later dredged away in 1928 during large-scale harbor expansion.

Historical Notes

Breakwater construction was labor-intensive and relied on animal power and manual labor. These early structures helped stabilize the harbor and protect shipping lanes from storms and flooding.

The work laid the foundation for the modern Port of Los Angeles.

This drawing shows Wilmington as a planned harbor town, with rail access, protected waters, and industrial facilities. Also shown is Wilson College, established in 1874.

Wilson College was the first coeducational college west of the Mississippi River. It later relocated closer to Los Angeles and became the University of Southern California in 1880.

In 1873, the City and County of Los Angeles transferred ownership of the Los Angeles and San Pedro Railroad to the Southern Pacific Railroad, along with financial incentives, to ensure that Southern Pacific routed its lines through Los Angeles.

This decision tied the region’s future growth to rail transportation and national markets.

Historical Notes

Rancho San Pedro was California’s first Spanish land grant. Issued in 1784 to Juan Jose Dominguez, the original grant covered 75,000 acres, including the entire Los Angeles harbor area.

The land passed through generations of the Dominguez family and remains partly intact today through family-owned enterprises. Rancho San Pedro is designated California Historical Landmark No. 152 and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Historical Notes

After Manuel Dominguez died in 1882, the rancho was divided among his six daughters. Three family lines continued the legacy through the Carson, Del Amo, and Watson families.

In 1922, land next to the family home was donated to the Claretian Missionaries. The adobe later served as a seminary and remains an important historic site.

Built in 1823, the Hide House was the first known commercial structure on San Pedro Bay. It stored cattle hides from nearby missions for trade.

The building was later described by Richard Henry Dana in Two Years Before the Mast. Its presence marked the beginning of organized commerce at the harbor.

Historical Notes

During the Civil War, Phineas Banning provided land for Drum Barracks, the Union Army’s headquarters for Southern California.

Established in 1862, the base supplied troops across the Southwest. Camels were briefly used to haul supplies before the experiment ended in 1863.

Historical Notes

Drum Barracks was named for Colonel Richard Coulter Drum, although he never visited the site. During the Civil War, thousands of soldiers passed through Wilmington, making it larger than Los Angeles at the time.

The military presence helped stabilize and grow the harbor community.

The remaining structure once housed officers and is now a museum. It is the only Civil War landmark in California and is designated both a California Historical Landmark and a Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monument.

San Pedro remained largely unpaved well into the late 19th century. Roads were dusty in summer and muddy in winter, reflecting the town’s working harbor character.

Built in 1881, this Victorian-style home was a wedding gift from the Sepulveda family. James Dodson served as a merchant and postmaster in San Pedro.

The Dodson home was later moved to 859 West 13th Street. It is designated Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monument No. 147 and remains a private residence.

By the late 1800s, San Pedro had grown from a small landing into a busy harbor town. Boarding houses, hotels, real estate offices, and small businesses served sailors, dockworkers, merchants, and new residents. Many residents were recent arrivals drawn by shipping, fishing, and railroad work. Streets near the waterfront were active day and night, shaped by shipping schedules and seasonal trade.

These images show everyday scenes rather than major events. Together, they document how daily life, local commerce, and harbor activity became closely linked as San Pedro developed into a permanent community tied to trade and transportation.

Seasonal floods carried sand and silt into the harbor, repeatedly clogging shipping channels. Between 1871 and 1893, two major breakwaters were built to control tidal flows.

These structures scoured the harbor floor and created the main shipping channel still used today, allowing San Pedro to grow into a modern port.

Lumber in the Harbor

Building a Growing City

Lumber was one of the most important imports moving through San Pedro Harbor in the late 1800s. As Los Angeles expanded, demand for building materials increased rapidly. Most lumber arrived by ship from Northern California, Oregon, and Washington, then moved inland by rail and wagon.

Much of this lumber passed directly through the harbor without long-term storage. Waterfront lumber yards became a common sight, and large storage areas were needed to keep up with steady arrivals from the Pacific Northwest.

Los Angeles grew at an unprecedented pace during the 1880s. Homes, businesses, warehouses, and rail facilities all required vast amounts of lumber. San Pedro Harbor adapted to meet this demand by expanding dock space and storage areas.

Wood’s Lumber Company operated on land that later became the Ports O’ Call site, reflecting how early industrial uses shaped the modern harbor.

The scale of lumber imports was enormous. During just two months in 1887, more than twenty-five million board feet of lumber were unloaded at San Pedro Harbor. This steady flow of materials helped fuel the rapid construction of Los Angeles and surrounding communities.

By the end of the 19th century, rail lines were fully integrated into harbor operations. Lumber could be transferred directly from ship to railcar, speeding delivery and reducing costs.

Photographs from this period frequently show lumber stacked along the shoreline, underscoring its importance to the regional economy.

The lumber trade remained strong into the early 20th century and continued until the Great Depression. It played a central role in supplying materials for housing, commercial construction, and infrastructure as Los Angeles evolved from a frontier city into a major metropolis.

By the 1890s, San Pedro Harbor functioned as an integrated transportation hub. Ships carrying lumber docked alongside rail lines that moved cargo directly inland.

After the death of Phineas Banning in 1885, his sons continued to promote harbor development. By that time, the port handled more than 500,000 tons of shipping annually.

Efficient transfer between ship and rail was essential to keeping construction costs low in Los Angeles. Lumber could move from vessel to railcar in a single operation, reducing handling time and labor.

This efficiency strengthened San Pedro’s position as the preferred harbor for Southern California.

In 1893, the Southern Pacific Railroad built the Santa Monica Long Wharf, calling it Port Los Angeles. At 4,700 feet long, it was the longest pier in the world and allowed trains to run directly to deep-water ships.

This sparked a major political and economic battle over where Los Angeles’ main harbor should be located. Southern Pacific favored Santa Monica, while others argued for San Pedro Bay.

Opponents of the Santa Monica site argued that San Pedro Bay offered better natural protection and long-term expansion potential. Newspaper publisher Harrison Gray Otis and U.S. Senator Stephen White led the fight for a free public harbor at San Pedro.

Historical Notes

In 1897, the United States Congress selected San Pedro Bay as the official site for the Port of Los Angeles. Despite this decision, the Santa Monica Long Wharf remained the city’s primary port until 1903.

The wharf is designated California Historical Landmark No. 881.

Click HERE for more on the Santa Monica Long Wharf

The Free Harbor Fight was resolved in favor of San Pedro in 1897 after a federal commission led by John C. Walker endorsed the site. With federal support secured, major breakwater construction began in 1899.

San Pedro and Wilmington were later annexed to the City of Los Angeles in 1909, formally linking the harbor to the city it served.

This colorized image highlights the scale and intensity of harbor activity during the late 19th century. Lumber shipments dominated the waterfront, with rail cars positioned directly beside the channel to speed transfer from ship to land transportation.

Colorization helps modern viewers better understand materials, distance, and daily working conditions at the harbor. While the colors are interpretive, the underlying photograph accurately documents how railroads, lumber yards, and harbor improvements operated together as San Pedro developed into the primary port for Los Angeles.

By the turn of the 20th century, San Pedro Harbor had emerged as a fully developed port. Railroads, shipping, and waterfront activity were tightly connected, setting the stage for the modern Port of Los Angeles.

Point Fermin Lighthouse was completed in 1874 and was the first lighthouse built to guide ships into San Pedro Bay. For years, ships entering the harbor had no fixed navigational aid and relied on local knowledge and clear weather. The lighthouse marked the growing importance of San Pedro as a shipping center for Southern California. Its location on the high cliffs made the light visible far out to sea.

The lighthouse was built after long efforts by Phineas Banning and other local leaders, who pressed the federal government to improve navigation safety. Although the site and funding were approved earlier, disagreements and delays postponed construction for nearly twenty years.

Point Fermin marks the southernmost point of the City of Los Angeles. The point was named by British explorer George Vancouver in 1793 in honor of Father Fermín de Francisco Lasuén, whom he had met earlier in California.

Father Fermín de Francisco Lasuén later became the second president of the California missions and founded Mission San Fernando Rey de España. Though often overshadowed by his predecessor, he guided the mission system for a longer period and left a lasting mark on California history.

By the early 1900s, coastal erosion had begun to reshape the cliffs around Point Fermin. Photographs from this period show how close the lighthouse stood to the edge, emphasizing both its dramatic setting and the constant threat posed by wind and waves. Despite these conditions, the lighthouse continued to operate reliably for mariners entering San Pedro Bay.

This view highlights the lighthouse’s wood frame construction and its relationship to the surrounding landscape. The steep, banded cliffs are a natural feature of the Palos Verdes Peninsula. The lighthouse was carefully positioned to balance visibility at sea with stability on land.

Stereoscopic images like this were popular in the late nineteenth century and allowed viewers to experience scenes in three dimensions. The fence marked the lighthouse grounds and separated the keeper’s residence from grazing land and foot traffic. The structure served both as a navigational aid and as a family home for the lighthouse keepers.

The Point Fermin Lighthouse was designed by Paul J. Pelz, a draftsman for the United States Lighthouse Board. The building reflects the Stick Style Victorian design, known for its simple decoration, gabled roofs, and visible wood details. Similar designs were used at East Brother Island Lighthouse and Hereford Inlet Lighthouse, both of which still stand today.

This photograph shows the Point Fermin Lighthouse during its working years, when the light, lantern room, and gallery were fully intact and in daily use. The presence of a keeper on the tower highlights the hands on nature of lighthouse operations, which required constant maintenance, observation, and record keeping.

Details such as the flag, gallery railing, and roofline help date the image to the late nineteenth century. During this period, the lighthouse served both as a navigational aid and a residence, with keepers and their families living on site while ensuring the light remained visible to ships entering San Pedro Bay.

The lighthouse stands about thirty feet tall and rests on a brick foundation. Its wood frame was built using lumber milled from California redwood forests. The attached house provided living quarters for the keeper and family, who were responsible for maintaining the light, cleaning the lens, and recording weather and ship activity.

In 1941, shortly after the attack on Pearl Harbor, the light was turned off due to fears it could guide enemy ships or aircraft. The lantern room and gallery were later removed, and a small lookout structure was installed in their place. Locals referred to this temporary structure as the chicken coop. The lighthouse remained dark for decades during and after the war.

The lighthouse was saved from demolition in 1972 and was listed on the National Register of Historic Places. A full restoration followed, including the reconstruction of the lantern room and gallery to match the original appearance. Today, it is the only surviving nineteenth century lighthouse in the City of Los Angeles.

Historical Notes

This then and now comparison highlights the careful restoration of the Point Fermin Lighthouse and how little its appearance has changed since it was first built in the 1870s. After years of modification and decline, the lighthouse was restored so that its overall form, exterior details, and proportions reflect how it originally looked when guiding ships into San Pedro Bay.

In 2002, the lighthouse was restored, retrofitted, and rehabilitated for public access using funds from the City of Los Angeles, the Port of Los Angeles, and the State of California. Historic photographs and original design details were used to reconstruct the lantern room, gallery, siding, and trim, allowing the building to closely resemble its original Victorian design.

The lighthouse reopened to the public in 2003 and is managed by 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 maintain the site, ensuring that this landmark continues to look much as it did when first completed nearly 150 years ago.

Sound and Sight: Coastal Navigation at Point Fermin

Whistling Buoy and Lighthouse

Whistling buoys were an important part of late nineteenth-century coastal navigation, especially in fog or poor visibility. Powered by wave motion, the buoy produced a low, mournful sound that warned ships of nearby rocks and shorelines when visual landmarks were obscured.

At Point Fermin, the buoy worked in tandem with the lighthouse, providing both audible and visual guidance to vessels approaching San Pedro Bay. Together, these aids helped reduce shipwrecks along a rugged and often fog-prone coastline.

This image captures the dramatic cliffs of Point Fermin, where steep, layered bluffs meet the Pacific Ocean. The lighthouse appears in the distance near the cliff edge, illustrating how it was positioned to maximize visibility for ships approaching San Pedro Bay.

Views like this emphasize the lighthouse’s relationship to the surrounding landscape rather than its architectural details. The rugged shoreline, wave action below, and exposed cliffs highlight the constant environmental forces that shaped both the site and the long-term challenges of maintaining a navigational aid in this location.

Photographs and postcards of Point Fermin often balanced scenic appeal with subtle references to maritime safety, reinforcing the lighthouse’s role as a quiet but constant presence along one of Southern California’s most important coastal approaches.

Before the Port: San Pedro & Los Angeles Harbor

(1885–1900)

In the 1880s, San Pedro’s harbor remained largely undeveloped, relying on shallow-draft vessels and hand-loaded cargo. Deep water access was limited, which made transferring goods inefficient. This early image captures the modest scale of operations before federal investments began to reshape the harbor.

This 1893 map shows San Pedro before its integration into the larger Los Angeles Harbor complex. At the time, shipping interests were vying for federal support to dredge the channel and construct protective breakwaters. The town’s strategic location near the Los Angeles basin made it a natural candidate for port development.

In addition to freight activity, early San Pedro served as a modest seaside destination. Bath houses were popular in the 1880s–90s, and small boats ferried visitors from larger vessels or docks. These casual scenes would soon give way to more industrial waterfront development.

By 1890, informal freight operations had begun integrating with rail systems. Before the Harbor Commission existed, several private companies extended tracks along the waterfront to connect with arriving ships. This marked the beginning of intermodal transport in San Pedro.

As Los Angeles expanded rapidly in the 1890s, lumber became the harbor’s most critical import. San Pedro served as a staging area for building materials shipped from the Pacific Northwest and offloaded directly into Southern California’s growing rail network.

The unprotected coastline and lack of adequate piers often left smaller vessels stranded at low tide. Before breakwaters were built, tidal shifts and unpredictable surf posed constant threats to early shipping efforts in the harbor.

This view highlights the dense maritime traffic that defined the mid-1890s. Multiple tall ships are visible at anchor, while rail spurs run along the dock—evidence of the harbor’s growing importance in coastal shipping, especially before containerization.

This perspective from Terminal Island shows Knob Hill Hospital and the Clarence Hotel overlooking the harbor. By the early 20th century, Terminal Island would evolve from a small sandbar into a major industrial and naval facility, thanks in part to harbor dredging efforts that began in 1899.

As the port town grew, Main Street developed into a modest commercial hub. Rail access directly to the water enabled faster transfer of goods and passengers—a critical step in securing San Pedro’s future as a competitive deep-water port.

By 1898, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers had begun initial work on dredging and constructing breakwaters. The scale of lumber shipments visible here reflects booming regional demand for housing and infrastructure—key forces that justified federal investment in a formal port.

The General McPherson was the first vessel to leave Los Angeles Harbor with cargo bound for Mexico, symbolizing the beginning of international trade through San Pedro. This was a milestone in Los Angeles’s rise as a Pacific commerce hub, just prior to its designation as an official port in 1907.

By the 1890s, San Pedro Harbor was operating as a functional—though still evolving—commercial harbor. While deep-water access remained limited, the number of vessels visible here reflects a sharp increase in coastal shipping activity. Panoramic views such as this were often created to capture the growing scale of the harbor and to promote San Pedro’s importance as Southern California’s primary maritime gateway before the completion of major federal improvements.

By the late 1890s, rail connections were firmly integrated into San Pedro’s harbor operations. The Los Angeles Terminal Railway provided a direct link between ships at the waterfront and inland destinations, allowing passengers and freight to transfer efficiently between rail and sea. This image illustrates one of the earliest fully coordinated rail-to-ship interfaces in the harbor, a crucial development that strengthened San Pedro’s case as the region’s permanent deep-water port.

Even as steam power expanded, tall-masted sailing ships continued to play a major role in Pacific trade at the turn of the 20th century. Lumber, coal, and general cargo moved through San Pedro aboard both sail and steam vessels. Scenes like this underscore the harbor’s transitional character, blending 19th-century maritime traditions with emerging industrial infrastructure.

Public gatherings such as this were common during ship arrivals in the late 1890s, reflecting both civic pride and the growing economic importance of the harbor. By 1899, federal dredging and breakwater construction were underway, and San Pedro was increasingly recognized as Los Angeles’s principal maritime outlet. These moments marked the harbor’s transition from a regional shipping point to a port of national significance, formally designated as the Port of Los Angeles in 1907.

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.

Historical Notes

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.

Click HERE to see more in Early Views of Catalina

At the turn of the twentieth century, San Pedro was an independent city, and its municipal offices were often located in leased or temporary buildings. This modest structure served as City Hall during a period of rapid growth driven by harbor activity and expanding rail connections.

In 1906, the City of Los Angeles annexed the Harbor Gateway, a long and narrow strip of land linking the city to the coast. Three years later, in 1909, Los Angeles annexed San Pedro and the neighboring town of Wilmington. The unusual shape created by these annexations is still visible on city maps today and reflects Los Angeles’s effort to secure control of a deep water port.

This building served as San Pedro’s City Hall from 1905 to 1908. It was constructed in 1905 at the northwest corner of 11th Street and Palos Verdes Street. The mayor at the time was Edward Mahar, who lived only one block south of the site.

The building functioned as City Hall for just three years. Following San Pedro’s consolidation with Los Angeles in 1909, civic operations moved to a new and larger City Hall on Beacon Street.

The structure still stands today and is now home to the City Hall Market and the Alhambra Bar.

This view captures San Pedro just before its annexation by Los Angeles. The open parkland in the foreground would soon give way to civic construction, reflecting the town’s transition from an independent port community to part of a growing metropolitan city.

This Classical Revival style City Hall was completed in 1909, the same year San Pedro was annexed by the City of Los Angeles. Designed by Pasadena architect F. E. Allen, the building featured a symmetrical façade, prominent columns, and formal proportions meant to project stability and civic authority. Costing approximately forty thousand dollars, it symbolized San Pedro’s expanded civic role within Los Angeles and the city’s long-term commitment to controlling the harbor.

Beacon Street remained largely unpaved at the time this photograph was taken. The mix of horse drawn wagons and early infrastructure reflects the transitional nature of San Pedro during its early years under Los Angeles governance.

After annexation in 1909, fire protection services in San Pedro were reorganized under the Los Angeles Fire Department. Hose Company No. 6 was incorporated into the City Hall building at 630 Beacon Street, placing civic administration and emergency services under one roof.

San Pedro’s first volunteer fire company was formed in 1889. Over the years, fire services moved several times as the city grew. In August 1909, Hose Company No. 6 was officially organized at the new City Hall on Beacon Street. In 1915, it was reorganized as Engine Company No. 36 and relocated nearby on Beacon Street.

This scene illustrates everyday life in San Pedro during the early years following annexation. Traditional horse drawn transportation coexisted with early automobiles as the city adjusted to rapid growth and modernization.

This view looks along Beacon Street toward San Pedro City Hall during the early years following annexation by the City of Los Angeles. The Classical Revival City Hall stands prominently at right, while unpaved streets, utility poles, and modest commercial buildings reflect a town still transitioning from a port community to a fully integrated city district. Images like this show how civic government, daily life, and harbor activity were closely connected in San Pedro during the early twentieth century.

The City Hall stood prominently along Beacon Street, visually linking civic government with the harbor that had driven San Pedro’s growth and importance to Los Angeles.

Deadman’s Island was a well known landmark in San Pedro Harbor and would later be removed during harbor expansion. Views such as this emphasize the close physical relationship between city government and port operations.

By the early 1910s, San Pedro City Hall overlooked an increasingly busy harbor. The building remained in use until 1928, when it was demolished to make way for the present San Pedro City Hall and Municipal Building.

Click HERE to see more on San Pedro's current 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.*^

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