San Pedro, Los Angeles

Coordinates: 33°44′N 118°17′W / 33.74°N 118.29°W / 33.74; -118.29
Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

San Pedro
ZIP code
ZIP Codes 90731-90734[2]
Area code(s)310/424
GNIS feature ID1661392

San Pedro (/sæn ˈpiːdroʊ/ san PEE-droh;[3][4][5][6] Spanish: "St. Peter") is a neighborhood located within the South Bay and Harbor region of the City of Los Angeles, California, United States. Formerly a separate city, it consolidated with Los Angeles in 1909. The Port of Los Angeles, a major international seaport, is partially located within San Pedro. The district has grown from being dominated by the fishing industry, to a working-class community within the city of Los Angeles, to an increasingly dense and diverse community.

History

Indigenous

te'aats
to navigate the coastline.
te'aats, found all throughout the coastline, to travel to and from the Channel Islands and along the coastline. The boats are still constructed by the Tongva today and retain a cultural significance.[9][10]

First contact with Europeans occurred in 1542 with Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo, the Spanish explorer who noted the extensive presence of the plank boats of the neighboring Chumash.[11]

Origin of name

California Constitution and owner of Rancho San Pedro
helped found the settlement at San Pedro, then a small fishing village.

San Pedro was named for

Santa Catalina Island, named after Catherine of Alexandria, was claimed for the Spanish Empire the next day, on her feast day, November 25. In 1602–1603, Sebastián Vizcaíno (1548–1624) officially surveyed and mapped the California coastline, including San Pedro Bay, for New Spain. The anglicized pronunciation is "san-PEE-dro".[5]

Settlement

Rudecinda Sepúlveda de Dodson, pioneer of San Pedro and a founder of the San Pedro Woman's Club

European settlement began in 1769 as part of an effort to populate California, although trade restrictions encouraged more smuggling than regular business. In 1784, the Spanish Crown deeded Rancho San Pedro, a tract of over 75,000 acres (300 km2), to retired soldier Juan José Domínguez, who helped explore California with the Portolá expedition in 1769–1770. Rancho San Pedro was the first land grant in the Alta California portion of the Province of Las Californias in New Spain.

When New Spain won its independence from the Spanish Empire and Alta California became part of Mexico, the trade restrictions were lifted, and the town flourished.

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 after the Free Harbor Fight. In 1868 Banning created the Los Angeles & San Pedro Railroad, Southern California's first railroad and used it to transport goods from San Pedro Bay to Los Angeles, which soon became a major city in Southern California.[12]

San Pedro was a township in the 1860 census. The township consisted of the present-day

South Bay communities, Compton and western Long Beach.[13] Census records report a population of 359 in 1860. The township was renamed Wilmington Township for 1870.[14]

In 1906, the city of Los Angeles annexed the

Harbor Gateway, a long, narrow strip of land connecting the city to the northern border of Wilmington, and in 1909, the larger city consolidated with Wilmington and with San Pedro.[15]

In 1929, the city experienced the Sunken City Disaster, where an earthquake caused multiple homes to slide off a cliff into the sea.[16]

United States Navy Battle Fleet home port 1919–1940

In 1888, the

fleet post office, supply depot, fuel depot, degaussing range, ECM repair facility, and naval training schools for small craft, fire fighters, merchant ship communications, and anti-submarine attack remained at San Pedro through World War II;[17] but the battle fleet never returned.[18]

San Pedro was selected as the final home port of the battleship USS Iowa (BB-61). The Iowa now serves as a museum ship and memorial recognizing "the positive contributions of this battleship and its crew at critical moments in American history".[19]

Fort MacArthur, now a sub-base of Los Angeles Air Force Base, serves as privatized housing and administrative annex under the management of Tierra Vista Communities.

Geography and climate

Palos Verdes
.

The neighborhood is bordered to the north by the fellow Los Angeles City neighborhood of

Torrance, to the east by the Los Angeles City neighborhood of Wilmington and the city of Long Beach, to the south by the Pacific Ocean, and to the west by Rancho Palos Verdes and the city of Lomita.[20][21][22]

Climate data for San Pedro, Los Angeles
Month Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Year
Mean daily maximum °F (°C) 67
(19) 		68
(20) 		68
(20) 		71
(22) 		73
(23) 		76
(24) 		81
(27) 		82
(28) 		80
(27) 		77
(25) 		72
(22) 		67
(19) 		73
(23)
Mean daily minimum °F (°C) 46
(8) 		48
(9) 		50
(10) 		52
(11) 		56
(13) 		59
(15) 		62
(17) 		63
(17) 		62
(17) 		57
(14) 		50
(10) 		46
(8) 		54
(12)
Average precipitation inches (mm) 3.31
(84) 		3.12
(79) 		2.69
(68) 		0.70
(18) 		0.27
(6.9) 		0.08
(2.0) 		0.03
(0.76) 		0.13
(3.3) 		0.25
(6.4) 		0.43
(11) 		1.17
(30) 		1.85
(47) 		14.02
(356)
Source: [23]

Locations of interest

Sea Princess
in Port of Los Angeles

San Pedro, Wilmington, and Terminal Island are the locations of the Port of Los Angeles. The Vincent Thomas Bridge is a 1,500-foot-long (457 m) suspension bridge linking San Pedro with Terminal Island and named after California Assemblyman Vincent Thomas. (It is the fourth longest suspension bridge in California.) Nearby is the Battleship Iowa museum and attraction, the Los Angeles Maritime Museum (the largest maritime museum in California), and the museum ship SS Lane Victory (a fully operational Victory ship of World War II and National Historic Landmark). Ports O' Call Village, a tourist destination, which provided shopping venues, waterfront eateries, was demolished in 2019 to make way for West Harbor, a major waterfront food hall and park under development, slated to open in 2024.[24][25][26] A historic naval warehouse built in 1944 houses Crafted at the Port of Los Angeles, a permanent craft marketplace.

Point Fermin Light

The

bell donated by South Korea in 1976 to the people of Los Angeles. The church of Mary Star of the Sea
is a prominent landmark with a steeple-top statue overlooking the harbor.

On 28th Street, between Gaffey Street and Peck Avenue, is a steep section of public roadway. For about 50 feet (15 m), the street climbs at a 33.3% angle, although the rest of the street is less steep.[27]

Demographics

Population history

A cyclist on Beacon Street around the time of annexation by Los Angeles in 1909

Ethnically diverse San Pedro was a magnet for European immigrants from various countries for years, reflected in the number of restaurants representing diverse cuisines, especially

Croatian and Norwegian communities in Los Angeles. The Croatian community, originally composed of seafarers and fishermen from the Dalmatia (especially the islands of Brač, Hvar, Vis and Korčula) region, has been present in San Pedro since the settlement began more than 200 years ago. The City of Los Angeles even named a stretch of 9th Street "Croatian Place" in honor of the city's old Croatian community. The Norwegian presence can be felt at the Norwegian Seamen's Church
.

Until February 1942, San Pedro was home to a vibrant

Japanese-American internment during World War II, is described in Jeanne Wakatsuki Houston's memoir Farewell to Manzanar
.

2000 census

St. Peter Catholic Church.

A total of 80,065 people lived in San Pedro's 12.06 square miles, according to the 2000 U.S. census—averaging 6,640 people per square mile, near Los Angeles' total population density. The median age was 34 in the San Pedro neighborhood, considered average for Los Angeles.[29]

San Pedro is considered highly diverse ethnically, with a

Asians at 4.8% and others at 4.1%. Mexico and Italy were the most common places of birth for the 24.5% of the residents who were born abroad, considered a low percentage of foreign-born when compared with the city as a whole.[29]

The $57,508 median household income in 2008 dollars was average for the city and county. Renters occupied 56.1% of the housing units, and homeowners occupied the rest. In 2000 there were 3,394 families headed by single parents, or 17.5%, a rate that was average for the county and the city. In the same year there were 6,559 military veterans, or 11% of the population, considered high when compared to the city and county as a whole.[29]

Transportation

J Line

Downtown San Pedro
J Line 
Services
Preceding station Metro Busway Following station
Harbor Beacon Park & Ride
(with interim stops)
toward El Monte
 J Line Terminus

Line 950 of the Los Angeles Metro Busway's J Line terminates in downtown San Pedro. The line runs north to Downtown Los Angeles following the Harbor Freeway (I-110) and Harbor Transitway before following the El Monte Busway along the San Bernardino Freeway (I-10) east to its northeastern terminus in El Monte.

Heading south from Harbor Beacon Park & Ride along Beacon Street, the line turns west along First Street, then south along Pacific Avenue down to its southern terminus at 21st Street. Heading back north, the line turns west on 22nd Street, north on Gaffey Street, and finally east onto 19th Street before once again meeting Pacific Avenue and turning north.

Downtown San Pedro stops include:

  • Beacon Street at First Street
  • Pacific Avenue at First Street
  • Pacific Avenue at Third Street
  • Pacific Avenue at Seventh Street
  • Pacific Avenue at 11th Street
  • Pacific Avenue at 15th Street
  • Pacific Avenue at 17th Street
  • Pacific Avenue at 19th Street (southbound only)
  • Pacific Avenue at 21st Street

Government and infrastructure

City Council

San Pedro Municipal Building, Beaux-Arts structure completed in 1928

San Pedro anchors the southern end of

Los Angeles City Council District 15, which has long been represented only by residents of San Pedro. The neighborhood, according to the Los Angeles Times, "despite accounting for less than one-third of the district's population has enjoyed outsize influence as the district's traditional base of political power."[31]

San Pedro Post Office Building

Federal government

The United States Postal Service operates the San Pedro Post Office at 839 South Beacon Street and the Eastview Post Office at 28649 South Western Avenue.[32][33] The USPS also operates the Seafarers Post Office at Suite A at 93 Berth in close proximity to the San Pedro Post Office.[34]

The Federal Bureau of Prisons operates the Federal Correctional Institution, Terminal Island on Terminal Island and in San Pedro.[35]

Education

Cabrillo Beach Bathhouse.

Just 23.8% of San Pedro residents aged 25 or older had completed a four-year degree in 2000, about average when compared with the city and the county at large, and the percentage of those residents with more than a high school diploma was high for the county.[29]

Primary and secondary schools

San Pedro is served by the Los Angeles Unified School District. The area is within Board District 7.[36] As of 2023, Tanya Ortiz Franklin represents the district.[37]

San Pedro High School, Mary Star of the Sea High School, and the Port of Los Angeles High School are the primary high schools within the region. San Pedro High School is home to the protected landmarks in the form of The English Language Arts and Administration Buildings (c. 1939, 1936, resp.). The school celebrated its 100-year anniversary in 2003. It is home to both the Marine Science and Police Academy Magnet programs. Port of Los Angeles High School is a public charter high school, fusing a college preparatory program with elective coursework in International Business and Maritime Studies. Such studies reinforce the significant impact of California's ports on the global economy and international trade.

As of 2012, test scores tended to be higher in the area's elementary schools than in its middle and high schools.[38]

Under certain specific circumstances, residents of San Pedro may be admitted into schools in the Palos Verdes Peninsula Unified School District located in the neighboring Palos Verdes Peninsula;[39] specifically they may attend Miraleste Intermediate School and Palos Verdes High School. This admittance is only granted if a student's parent or guardian is enlisted in the US military, has a parent or guardian employed within the Palos Verdes Peninsula, has a grandparent residing within the Palos Verdes Peninsula, or if the student simply lives in a closer vicinity to a PVPUSD school than any other LAUSD schools.

Primary schools (Grades 1–5)
  • 15th Street Elementary[40][41]
  • Bandini Elementary[42]
  • Barton Hill Elementary[43][44]
  • Cabrillo Early Education Center[45]
  • Cabrillo Elementary[46]
  • Leland Elementary[47]
  • Park Western Harbor Magnet[48]
  • Point Fermin Marine Science Magnet[49]
  • San Pedro/Wilmington Early Education Center[50]
  • South Shores Magnet for the Visual and Performing Arts Elementary School
  • Taper Elementary[51][52]
  • Taper Avenue Elementary Technology Magnet Center[53]
  • White Point Elementary[54]
  • Crestwood Elementary
  • 7th Street Elementary
Secondary schools (Grades 6–12)
Continuation schools
  • Angel's Gate Continuation High[59]
  • Cooper Community Day School[60]
  • Harbor Community Adult School[61]
  • Harbor Occupational Center[62]
Private schools

Private schools in San Pedro include:

Grades Preschool–8
Grades 1–8
Grades 6–12
  • Rolling Hills Estates Preparatory School—the current location opened on February 6, 2007.[66]
Grades 9–12

Libraries

Tom Bradley.[68]

Media

San Pedro News-Pilot, a newspaper, closed in 1998.[69]

Events

Honor

San Pedro was declared 2017 Neighborhood of the year by Curbed Los Angeles.[70]

Notable people

Main article:
People from San Pedro, Los Angeles

In popular culture

See also

References

  1. ^ "San Pedro". Geographic Names Information System. United States Geological Survey, United States Department of the Interior. Retrieved January 7, 2018.
  2. ^ "San Pedro ZIP Codes". zipdatamaps.com. 2022. Retrieved November 11, 2022.
  3. ^ "Pronouncing 'Los Angeles'". Los Angeles Almanac.
  4. ^ "KNX On Your Corner: 'San Pee-dro' Vs. 'San Pay-dro'". July 19, 2013.
  5. ^ a b Lauren Lloyd (May 7, 2013). "Why Spanish Pronunciations Of L.A. Neighborhoods Are Making A Comeback". LAist. Gothamist LLC. Archived from the original on June 9, 2013. Retrieved December 13, 2013.
  6. ^ a b Pollack, Gina (July 22, 2019). "How To Speak LA: Your Guide To The City's Most Debated And Mispronounced Words". LAist. Retrieved May 22, 2021.
  7. ^ "Survey of park to determine burial-ground limits". Orange County Register. October 9, 2013. Retrieved December 21, 2022.
  8. OCLC 950751182.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link
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  9. OCLC 76901815
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  10. OCLC 70910964.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: others (link
    )
  11. ISBN 9781608684403
    .
  12. ^ Nathan Masters (January 17, 2013). "Lost Train Depots of Los Angeles". Socal Focus. KCET.
  13. ^ Paul R. Spitzzeri (Fall 2007). "What a Difference a Decade Makes: Ethnic and Racial Demographic Change in Los Angeles County during the 1860s" (PDF). Branding Iron.
  14. U.S. Census Bureau. "Population of the United States in 1860: California"
    (PDF).
  15. ^ Stolberg, Sheryl (February 26, 1988). "No Longer the City It Once Was, San Pedro to Mark 100th Birthday". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved February 29, 2016.
  16. ^ "San Pedro's Sunken City : Portraits of LA : 2014". portraitsofla.ascjweb.com. Retrieved April 20, 2018.
  17. ^ "U.S. Naval Activities World War II by State". Patrick Clancey. Retrieved March 19, 2012.
  18. ^ Beigel, Harvey M. "The Battle Fleet's Home Port: 1919–1940". United States Naval Institute Proceedings Supplement March 1985, pp.54–63.
  19. ^ "Home Page - Los Angeles Museum - Battleship USS Iowa". Los Angeles Museum - Battleship USS Iowa.
  20. ^ Los Angeles Times "Harbor", Mapping L.A., Los Angeles Times
  21. ^ Los Angeles Times "South Bay", Mapping L.A., Los Angeles Times
  22. ^ The Thomas Guide, 2006, pages 823 and 824
  23. ^ "Zipcode 97031". www.plantmaps.com. Retrieved March 23, 2021.
  24. ^ "West Harbor LA". Retrieved January 2, 2023.
  25. ^ "Construction start for 42-acre San Pedro Public Market pushed to 2021". Long Beach Post. Retrieved January 17, 2021.
  26. ^ Barragan, Bianca (March 21, 2018). "New renderings revealed for revamped San Pedro Public Market". Curbed LA. Retrieved March 10, 2019.
  27. ^ Bob Pool (August 21, 2003). "Getting the Slant on L.A.'s Steepest Street". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved May 6, 2012.
  28. ^ NPS.gov Archived January 17, 2005, at the Wayback Machine
  29. ^ a b c d "San Pedro", Mapping L.A. Los Angeles Times
  30. ^ "Diversity", Mapping L.A., Los Angeles Times
  31. ^ Editorial, April 19, 2022, page A14
  32. ^ "SAN PEDRO Post Office™ Location". United States Postal Service. USPS. 2012. Archived from the original on May 3, 2012. Retrieved May 6, 2012.
  33. ^ "EASTVIEW Post Office™ Location". United States Postal Service. USPS. 2012. Archived from the original on July 22, 2012. Retrieved May 6, 2012.
  34. ^ "SEAFARERS Post Office™ Location". United States Postal Service/ White Pages. USPS. 2012. Archived from the original on July 17, 2012. Retrieved May 6, 2012.
  35. ^ The Federal Bureau of Prisons (2012). "Contact The Bureau of Prisons". The Federal Bureau of Prisons. The Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP). Retrieved May 6, 2012.
  36. ^ Master Planning and Demographic Branch – Facilities Services Division (January 2008). "Schools and Offices" (Map (PDF)). Los Angeles Unified School District – All Youth Achieving. LAUSD. Retrieved May 6, 2012.
  37. ^ "Biography / Biography". www.lausd.org. Retrieved August 16, 2023.
  38. ^ Mary Forgione (October 13, 2002). "San Pedro: Blue-collar soul with ocean views". Los Angeles Times – Real Estate. Retrieved May 6, 2012.
  39. ^ David Rosenfield (2019). "Wealthy Los Angeles school district to admit grandchildren of residents". The Mercury Times. Retrieved March 28, 2020.
  40. ^ 15th Street Elementary School (2012). "15th Street Elementary School". Los Angeles Unified School District. Retrieved May 6, 2012.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  41. ^ "Los Angeles Unified School District". Notebook.lausd.net. Retrieved March 19, 2011.
  42. ^ "Los Angeles Unified School District". Notebook.lausd.net. Retrieved March 19, 2011.
  43. ^ "Los Angeles Unified School District". Notebook.lausd.net. Retrieved March 19, 2011.
  44. ^ "Los Angeles Unified School District". Lausd.k12.ca.us. Archived from the original on June 5, 2009. Retrieved March 19, 2011.
  45. ^ "Los Angeles Unified School District". Notebook.lausd.net. Retrieved March 19, 2011.
  46. ^ "Los Angeles Unified School District". Notebook.lausd.net. Retrieved March 19, 2011.
  47. ^ "Los Angeles Unified School District". Notebook.lausd.net. Retrieved March 19, 2011.
  48. ^ a b "Los Angeles Unified School District". Notebook.lausd.net. Archived from the original on March 21, 2011. Retrieved March 19, 2011.
  49. ^ "Los Angeles Unified School District". Notebook.lausd.net. Retrieved March 19, 2011.
  50. ^ "Los Angeles Unified School District". Notebook.lausd.net. Retrieved March 19, 2011.
  51. ^ "Los Angeles Unified School District". Notebook.lausd.net. Retrieved March 19, 2011.
  52. ^ "Taper Avenue Elementary". Lausd.k12.ca.us. Retrieved March 19, 2011.
  53. ^ "Taper Technology Magnet". Lausd.k12.ca.us. Archived from the original on May 16, 2011. Retrieved March 19, 2011.
  54. ^ "Los Angeles Unified School District". Notebook.lausd.net. Retrieved March 19, 2011.
  55. ^ "You are about to leave the LAUSD network". Lausd.k12.ca.us. Retrieved March 19, 2011.
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  58. ^ "Los Angeles Unified School District". Notebook.lausd.net. Retrieved March 19, 2011.
  59. ^ "Los Angeles Unified School District". Notebook.lausd.net. Retrieved March 19, 2011.
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  61. ^ "Los Angeles Unified School District". Notebook.lausd.net. Retrieved March 19, 2011.
  62. ^ "Los Angeles Unified School District". Notebook.lausd.net. Retrieved March 19, 2011.
  63. ^ Holytrinitysp.org Archived January 20, 2010, at the Wayback Machine
  64. ^ "Christ Lutheran". CHRIST LUTHERAN. Retrieved August 16, 2023.
  65. ^ "Mary Star of the Sea Elementary School". Marystarelementary.com. Retrieved March 25, 2012.
  66. ^ "RHP History Archived March 4, 2010, at the Wayback Machine". Rolling Hills Preparatory School. Retrieved March 28, 2010.
  67. ^ "Mary Star of the Sea High School". Marystarhigh.com. Retrieved February 16, 2012.
  68. ^ "San Pedro Regional Branch Library". Los Angeles Public Library. Retrieved November 26, 2008.
  69. ^ Littlejohn, Donna (April 2, 2022). "Ports of LA, Long Beach launch port truck fee after years of planning". Press Telegram. Retrieved April 5, 2022.
  70. ^ "The Curbed Cup 2017 winner is... San Pedro!". January 2, 2018.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to San Pedro, Los Angeles.
Wikivoyage has a travel guide for San Pedro.
Preceding station Metro Busway Following station
Terminus J Line Harbor Beacon Park & Ride
toward San Pedro
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=San_Pedro,_Los_Angeles&oldid=1215935497"