San Pedro:

Nowhere in the South Bay is there more going on than in San Pedro. More groups are meeting, more plans launched, more forums held, more arguments debated, more ships passing by, etc. At least that is what we who live here believe. The history of San Pedro begins with the Gabrieleno Indians. Juan Cabrillo entered San Pedro harbor in 1542, saw smoke from the Indian fires and called the area the Bay of Smokes. The area was named by another Spanish explorer, Sebastian Vizcaino in honor of St. Peter, the second century bishop of Alexandria. In 1754 the King of Spain granted the area, and much of the South Bay, to Juan Dominguez because he had been a loyal bodyguard. Not much more than a mudflat, San Pedro was transformed through the efforts of Phineas Banning, who instituted stage and rail lines between San Pedro/Wilmington and Los Angeles. He also began the effort to make San Pedro the port of the Los Angeles area. San Pedro was incorporated as an independent city in 1888. Congress authorized funds to build a breakwater, which began construction in 1890. Elsewhere on this website we describe the effort to incorporate San Pedro into Los Angeles in 1909, and the fight between Los Angeles and Santa Monica to become the port and receive Congressional funding. San Pedro was the site of smuggling of liquor during Prohibition and the downtown area was a rather wild sailors’ enclave until much of downtown was torn down through redevelopment. The economy depended on the canneries (on Terminal Island), the shipyards, particularly Todd Shipyard, and the army base. There are no longer canneries or shipyards. It still houses a portion of the old Fort Mac Arthur.  Much has changed as Los Angeles/Long Beach Ports have become the primary source for containerized goods coming into the country from Asia. The Port has been a source of pride for San Pedro residents.  It has also been an increasing concern as the community has worked with the port to try and get control over the traffic and pollution from trucks, trains and ships.  The current population is about 80,000, but the population will increase with the development of high rise housing in downtown San Pedro.  As Realtors, we were proud to have put together the sale that allowed Habitat for Humanity to acquire property in San Pedro.  Thanks to volunteers around the world who participated in the Jimmy Carter Work Project, this site overlooking the harbor will provide home ownership for 16 deserving families.  As a part of this effort former President Jimmy Carter came to San Pedro and helped build these homes in October 2007.  As a part of the City of Los Angeles, San Pedro is represented by Councilwoman Janice Hahn and has three neighborhood councils.  John Greenwood was the founding president of the Northwest San Pedro Neighborhood Couuncil and serves on its Board of Directors.

City Website: www.lacity.org

Neighborhood Councils: The Northwest San Pedro Neighborhood Council website at nwsanpedro.org has a map of their territory and will link you to the two other San Pedro neighborhood councils.

 Official website:  www.lacity.org

Informational website: www.sanpedro.com