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The harbor was an active shipping center in 1897 when a federal panel selected San Pedro Bay over other coastal communities as the site for development of a major port. Construction of the breakwater began in 1899. In 1906, the City of Los Angeles annexed a 16-mile strip of unincorporated land from its southern border to a waterfront tract in San Pedro Bay, which was christened Harbor City.
On December 9, 1907, the Los Angeles City Council created the Los Angeles Board of Harbor Commissioners, marking the official founding of the Port of Los Angeles.
In the early part of this century, the Port bustled with longshore gangs unloading millions of board feet of lumber for local construction projects. Thousands of commercial fishermen and workers in a dozen canneries were involved in catching and processing tuna. More than 20,000 ship builders were working in four yards on various cargo and tanker vessels. Busy and colorful commercial areas sprang up adjacent to the Port to accommodate these workers as well as the ship crews that would be in port of up to 10 days at a time.
The Port today may seem almost serene by comparison, yet it is part of the largest container complex in the United States, handling 3000 vessel arrivals a year, some of which transport as many as 5,000 cargo containers each voyage. A gateway for international commerce and an economic engine for the region, the Port supports one out of every 24 jobs in Southern California.
Timeline of Port of Los Angeles Highlights
1542: Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo discovered the "Bay of Smokes." Little did he know that the desolate tidal flats would be transformed into one of the largest, busiest and most successful manmade harbors in the world. Tidal flats and marshes remained pristine for more than 200 years largely because Europe was concentrating its New World colonization on America's East Coast.
1771: Spanish explorers established a mission 40 miles inland from San Pedro. Mission monks were first traders to use the harbor. The Spanish prohibited settlers from conducting business with other countries, restricting their trade to two ships a year carrying goods from Spain's House of Trades. Despite restrictions, San Pedro prospered.
1805: The Leila Byrd was the First American trading ship to call at San Pedro, bringing sugar, textiles and household goods in exchange for otter pelts and provisions.
1822: Independent Mexican government lifted oppressive restrictions. San Pedro became a robust commercial center and an attractive home for new settlers.
1848: California under American control. Business at San Pedro harbor booming. Evident that harbor needed to be expanded to accommodate increasing cargo volume for a growing Los Angeles population.
1850: Phineas Banning began the first of a lifetime of ventures that earned him the name, "Father of Los Angeles Harbor." Ventures included a freight and passenger transportation business and the founding of Wilmington, adjacent to the wharf he built to serve his business empire. Among other achievements, Banning provided valuable assistance to the Union cause during the Civil War and, as a state senator, introduced the first railroad bill to the California legislature.
1869: Los Angeles and San Pedro Railroad began service between the bay and Los Angeles. This 21-mile stretch of track was the first railroad in Southern California and marked the beginning of a new era of development for the harbor area.
1871: Main Channel dredged to -10 feet. Breakwater built between Rattlesnake Island (now Terminal Island) and Deadman's Island (formerly located near Terminal Island).
1885: Commerce in San Pedro skyrocketing. Port handling 500,000 tons of import and export cargo annually.
1897: Great free-harbor fight settled. Rear Admiral John C. Walker recommended that port development continue in San Pedro, dashing plans for port development further up the coast and setting the stage for the modern era of the Port of Los Angeles.
1906: City of Los Angeles annexed a 16-mile strip of land on the outskirts of San Pedro and Wilmington -- towns that three years later would join the City of Los Angeles.
1907: Port of Los Angeles officially founded with the creation of the Los Angeles Board of Harbor Commissioners.
1911-12: First 8500-foot section of the breakwater completed. Main Channel widened to 800 feet and dredged to -30 feet. Southern Pacific Railroad completed its first major wharf in San Pedro.
1914: Panama Canal opened. As the nearest major American port northwest of the Panama Canal, the Port of Los Angeles became the natural port-of-call for most transpacific and coastal users.
1920s: Dynamic growth for the Port, marked by a boom in petroleum, lumber and citrus trade. For the first time in history, Los Angeles surpassed San Francisco as the West Coast's busiest seaport and ranked second only to New York in foreign export tonnage.
1937: Construction of the 18,500-foot-long extension of the middle breakwater completed. World War II: Shipbuilding quickly became the Port's prime economic activity with shipyards collectively employing more than 90,000 workers.Post World War II: Cargo containers adopted into commercial use, changing the industry forever.
1959: Matson Navigation Company's Hawaiian Merchant made its first shipment of 20 cargo containers, marking the beginning of the containerized cargo revolution. Car carriers also became common during this period.
1960s: Financially infeasible, and in many cases impossible, for large ships to pass through the Panama Canal. One viable and economical solution was the creation of a landbridge from the Port of Los Angeles to destinations throughout the US via trucks and trains.
1983: Port completed dredging of the Main Channel to -45 feet.
1985: Port handled one million containers in a year for the first time. Four years later, container traffic exceeded two million containers.
1986: Port opens the Intermodal Container Transfer Facility, providing for the rapid transfer of containers from the Port's marine terminals to trains.
1994: Dredging for Pier 300/400 begins, the largest capital improvement undertaking of any US seaport and the Port's most ambitious development project since its founding.
1996: The Los Angeles City Council designated the Vincent Thomas Bridge as the City’s Official Welcoming Monument in 1996.
1997: APL Limited's Global Gateway South opens. Considered to be one of the world's largest and most technologically advanced ocean and rail container terminals. The Terminal Island Container Transfer Facility is also completed, responding to the needs of Evergreen and NYK Line for on-dock intermodal capability. This 47-acre facility allows for the direct transfer of containers to and from ships and railcars.
1999: World's largest shipping line, Maersk Sealand, commits to be the Port's first customer at Pier 400. New partnership estimated to bring the Port $2 billion over a 25-year lease. APM Terminals (a division of Maersk) is currently the only Port tenant located on Pier 400.
2000: Completion of Pier 400 Dredging and Landfill Program, the largest such project in America, a significant milestone in positioning the Port to accommodate the tremendous growth in international trade well into the 21st century.
2006: Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach jointly release the San Pedro Bay Ports Clean Air Action Plan. This historical plan aims to reduce emissions by 50 percent over the next five years. The Port of Los Angeles set itself as an environmental steward and model for ports around the globe.
2007: The Port of Los Angeles celebrates its Centennial Celebration!
Virtual History Tour of the Port of Los Angeles
Through highlighting historic structures and facilities on the Virtual History Tour of the Port of Los Angeles, the Port tells the story of how the small El Pueblo de Nuestra Señora La Reina de los ángeles de Porciuncula was transformed into the international City of Los Angeles we know today. Additionally, the Port has a program to identify structures and facilities for their historic significance and has established ties with the Los Angeles Maritime Museum to identify and preserve artifacts from the Port’s early years of operation.
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