San Pedro, Los Angeles, California

Encyclopedia : S : SA : SAN : San Pedro, Los Angeles, California

While many cities use water towers to welcome visitors, San Pedro has its name painted on a smokestack.

San Pedro is a community within Los Angeles, California, annexed in 1909 and a major seaport of the area. The town has grown from being dominated by the fishing industry to become primarily a blue collar working town. The name of the town is often pronounced by residents as San PEE-dro rather than San PAY-dro.

Contents

1 History
2 Port of Los Angeles
3 Locations of interest
4 Demographics
5 Notable residents
6 External links

History

The Angel's Gate Lighthouse has stood at the entrance to the port since 1913.

The site, at the southern end of the Palos Verdes Peninsula, on the west side of San Pedro Bay, was used by Spanish ships starting in the 1540s.

San Pedro was named after St. Peter of Alexandria, a 4th century bishop in Alexandria, Egypt. His feast day is November 24th, the day on which Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo discovered the bay which would become "San Pedro." (Santa Catalina Island, named after St. Katherine of Sinai, was claimed for Spain the next day, on her feast day, November 25th)

Regular settlement began in 1769 as part of the effort to populate California, although trade restrictions encouraged more smuggling than regular business. When Mexico won its independence, the trade restriction were lifted, and the town flourished, and under United States control after 1848, the harbor was greatly improved under the guidance of Phineas Banning, and San Pedro became a major port of the West Coast.

In 1888, the War Department took control of a tract of land next to the bay, and added to it in 1897 and 1910. This became Fort MacArthur in 1914, and was a coastal defense site for many years. Many other facilities were established in the San Pedro area, and it was a popular port of call for U.S. Navy ships.

In 1906 the city of Los Angeles annexed 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.

Port of Los Angeles

San Pedro is connected to Los Angeles by a thin strip of land called the "Harbor Gateway" which roughly follows the 110 freeway.

Main article: Port of Los Angeles.

San Pedro and Wilmington are the locations of the Port of Los Angeles.

Locations of interest

One San Pedro landmark is the Vincent Thomas Bridge, a 1,500-foot long suspension bridge linking San Pedro with Terminal Island and named after California Assemblyman Vincent Thomas. Nearby is the Los Angeles Maritime Museum, the largest maritime museum in California, is here, as is the museum ship SS Lane Victory, a fully operational victory ship of World War II and National Historic Landmark.

The Frank Gehry designed Cabrillo Marine Aquarium is also in San Pedro. The Point Fermin Lighthouse, a Victorian-era structure built in the late 19th century, still exists as a museum and park on a bluff overlooking the ocean. The Korean Bell of Friendship is a massive bronze memorial bell donated by South Korea in 1976 to the people of Los Angeles.

In 2003, the San Pedro Waterfront Red Car Line was opened, along the waterfront between downtown San Pedro and the Cruise Ship Terminal. This line includes two newly constructed streetcars built to resemble the wood-bodied cars used in the early days of the Pacific Electric railway, which once operated more than 1,000 miles of track running city and interurban streetcars in Southern California. The 1.5 mile line actually operates along former PE trackage. The line, built and maintained by the Port of Los Angeles, also has one original restored Pacific Electric streetcar, which is used only for special charter excursions and special events. This original car was used as a model for construction of the two new replica streetcars. Discussions have been held to extend the line to the Cabrillo Marine Aquarium.

The Korean Bell of Friendship.

Demographics

San Pedro was a magnet for European immigrants from various countries for years, reflected in the number of restaurants representing diverse cuisines, especially Portuguese, Croatian, Italian and Greek. San Pedro in fact is considered the heart of the Croatian community in Los Angeles and the community, originally comprised of seafarers and fishermen from the Dalmatia region, has been present in San Pedro since European settlement began over 200 years ago.

Until February 1942, San Pedro was the home of a vibrant Japanese immigrant community of about three thousand people located at Terminal Island (East San Pedro). The forty-eight hour, forced expulsion of these San Pedro residents and the razing of the homes and shops of what has been described as a "typical Japanese Fishing Village" as part of the Japanese American internment during World War II is described in Jeanne Wakatsuki Houston's memoir Farewell to Manzanar.

Notable residents

Point Fermin Lighthouse, built in the 19th century, functioned as one of the harbor's two principal lighthouses.

Elmer Batters, nylon/foot fetish photographer
Charles Bukowski, author and poet, lived there in his later years.

"San Pedro is real quiet. It used to be a seaport full of whorehouses and bars. [The latter are still in abundance.] I like the quietness. They ask you how you're doing, they really want to know."

James Hahn, former Mayor of Los Angeles, is a current resident.

Jeanne Wakatsuki Houston, author of the popular memoir Farewell to Manzanar on the internment of Japanese-Americans during World War II. She briefly lived in East San Pedro (Terminal Island).

"In those days it [East San Pedro] was a company town, a ghetto owned and controlled by the canneries. The men went after fish, and whenever the boats came back-day or night-the woman would be called to process the catch while it was fresh. One in the afternoon or four in the morning, it made no difference...I can still hear the whistle--two toots for French's, three for Van Camp's--and she [Mom] and Chizu would be out of bed in the middle of the night, heading for the cannery." Excerpt from Farewell to Manzanar

The Minutemen: the band members for the influential and eclectic punk rock band grew up in San Pedro and the band was formed there. Bassist/songwriter Mike Watt still lives in San Pedro and is an active participant in its music scene. Drummer George Hurley still lives in San Pedro, as well.

Scott O'Dell, author of young-adult literature, lived in East San Pedro (Terminal Island) during his childhood.

"Island of the Blue Dolphins, though it is based upon the true story of a girl who lived alone on a California island for eighteen years, came from the memory of my years at San Pedro and Dead Man's Island, when, with other boys my age, I voyaged out on summer mornings in search of adventure."

Art Pepper, Jazz saxophonist, was born and raised there.

Rob Van Dam, an American professional wrestler

External links

[Maps and aerial photos] Coordinates: [33.73583° -118.29139°]
* Street map from [Google Maps] or [Yahoo! Maps]
* Topographic map from [TopoZone]
* Aerial image or topographic map from [TerraServer-USA]
* Satellite image from [Google Maps] or [Windows Live Local]
[San Pedro homepage]
[Port of Los Angeles]
[Japanese Immigrants at Terminal Island]
[Japanese Immigrants at White Point]
[Port of Los Angeles Waterfront Red Car Line]
[Furasato: The lost Village of Terminal Island]
[Citizens For A Harbor Line]

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