City of Long Beach History

Long Beach History

The area was originally occupied by the Tongva people who lived in a rancheria
named Tibahangna. Along with other Tongva villages, it disappeared in the
mid-1800s.
The Rancho los Cerritos was divided from the larger Rancho Los Nietos, which had
been granted by the King of Spain to a mulatto soldier, Manuel Nieto. Rancho Los
Cerritos was bought in 1843 by John Temple, a Yankee who had come to California
in 1827. Soon after he built what is now known as the "Los Cerritos Ranch House," an
adobe which still stands and is a National Historic Landmark. Temple created a
thriving cattle ranch and prospered, becoming the wealthiest man in Los Angeles
County. Both Temple and his ranch house played important local roles in the
Mexican American War.
Meanwhile, on an island in the San Pedro Bay, Mormon pioneers made an abortive
attempt to establish a colony (as part of Brigham Young's plan to establish a
continuous chain of settlements from the Pacific to Salt Lake).
In 1866 Temple sold Rancho Los Cerritos to the firm of Flint, Bixby & Co, which
consisted of brothers Thomas and Benjamin Flint and their cousin Lewellyn Bixby,
for $20,000. Later that year the company selected Lewellyn's brother Jotham Bixby,
the "Father of Long Beach", to manage their southern ranch, and three years later
Jotham bought into the property and would later form the Bixby Land Company. It
was during this period that the Rancho Los Cerritos was converted to sheep
ranching. In the 1870s as many as 30,000 sheep were kept at the ranch and sheared
twice yearly to provide wool for trade. In 1880, Bixby sold 4,000 acres (16 km²) of
the Rancho Los Cerritos to William E. Willmore, who subdivided it in hopes of
creating a farm community, Willmore City. He failed and was bought out by the
"Long Beach Land and Water Company." They changed the name of the community
to "Long Beach", which was incorporated as a city in 1888. When Bixby died in 1916
the remaining 3,500 acres (14 km²) of Rancho Los Cerritos was subdivided into the
neighborhoods of Bixby Knolls, California Heights, North Long Beach and part of the
city of Signal Hill.
The town grew as a seaside resort (The Pike was one of the most famous beachside
amusement parks on the West coast from 1910 until the 1960's) and then as an oil,
Navy, and port town. The town was once referred to as "Iowa by the sea," due to a
large influx of people from that state and other states in the Midwest. Huge picnics
for each state were a popular annual event in Long Beach until the 1960s.
The Long Beach earthquake of 1933 was a magnitude 6.3 earthquake that caused
significant damage to the city and surrounding areas. Most of the damage occurred
in unreinforced masonry buildings, especially schools. One hundred twenty people
died in this earthquake.
Long Beach used to have a sizable Japanese-American population mostly working in
the fish canneries on Terminal Island and small truck farms in the area, but with
intermarriage and other factors, it is now less than 1% of the population of Long
Beach. There is still a Japanese Community Center and a Japanese Buddhist Church
in Long Beach.

Long Beach is a city located in southern Los Angeles County, California, on the
Pacific coast. It is about 20 miles (30 km) south of downtown Los Angeles. The Port
of Long Beach is one of the busiest sea ports in the world, as well as one of the
largest.
As of the 2000 census, the city had a total population of 461,522. In 2004 its
population is estimated to have been increased to 476,564. It is 34th largest city in
the nation, 5th in California and 2nd in Los Angeles County (after Los Angeles). Long
Beach is also the largest U.S. city that is not a county seat. Long Beach is the
largest suburb in the United States and more populated than some central cities of
large Metropolitan Area, such as New Orleans, Louisiana (462,269 in 2004) and
Cleveland, Ohio (458,684).
According to the 2000 US Census, Long Beach is the most ethnically diverse large
city in the United States. For example, Long Beach has the second-largest
population of Cambodians outside of Asia (after Paris), and the area along Anaheim
St. is sometimes called "Little Phnom Penh". There are also sizable populations of
African-Americans, Mexicans, Salvadorians and other Central Americans, Filipinos,
Vietnamese and other Asians. There is a small population of Pacific Islanders in
Long Beach and the surrounding communities, especially Samoans. There is also a
significant population of gays and lesbians, with many gay-owned businesses along
Broadway, 2nd Street and 4th Street between Downtown Long Beach and Belmont
Shore.
The R.M.S. Queen Mary has been located in Long Beach since her retirement in 1967
and now serves as a hotel, convention center, and tourist attraction. The Aquarium
of the Pacific, a world-class research facility, is a popular tourist destination.
The Long Beach Grand Prix, an annual Champ Car race, takes place on city streets
near the Convention Center and is one of the largest Grand Prix events in the
world. The Long Beach Lesbian & Gay Pride Parade & Festival, is the second largest
event in Long Beach, and is the third largest Gay Pride Parade in the United States.
Long Beach is the location of the largest California State University, CSULB (largest
student population as of 2005-2006 academic year), and the headquarters of the
California State University system. The city also has a Veterans Affairs hospital.
Signal Hill is an incorporated city surrounded entirely by Long Beach.
The early silent film industry in Long Beach
One of the places where the film industry started in Southern California was in Long
Beach. Balboa Amusement Producing Company, also known as Balboa Studios, was
located at Sixth Street and Alamitos Avenue, and they used 11 acres (45,000 m²) on
Signal Hill for outdoor locations. Silent movie stars who lived in Long Beach
included Fatty Arbuckle and Theda Bara. The 1917 film Cleopatra, starring Theda
Bara, was filmed at the Dominguez Slough just west of Long Beach, and Moses
parted the Red Sea for Cecil B. DeMille's 1923 black-and-white version of "The Ten
Commandments" on the flat seashore of Seal Beach, southeast of Long Beach.

Transportation
The Port of Long Beach is the second busiest seaport in the United States . The port
serves shipping between the United States and the Pacific Rim. The combined
operations of the Port of Long Beach and the Port of Los Angeles are the busiest in
the USA.
Rail shipping is provided by Union Pacific Railroad and BNSF Railway, which carry
about half of the trans-shipments from the port. Long Beach has contributed to the
Alameda Corridor project to increase the capacity of the rail lines, roads, and
highways connecting the port to the Los Angeles rail hub. The project, completed in
2002, created a 20 mile (32 km) long, 33 ft (10 m) deep trench in order to eliminate
200 grade crossings and cost about US$2.4 billion.
Long Beach is the southern terminus for the Los Angeles Metro Blue Line light rail
corridor. Blue Line trains run from Long Beach City Hall to Downtown Los Angeles.
The Metro Rail Blue Line Maintenance Shops are also located in Long Beach just
south of the Del Amo Blue Line station.
There is an Amtrak Thruway bus shuttle starting in San Pedro, with stops at the
Queen Mary and downtown Long Beach, that then goes to Union Station in
downtown Los Angeles, and ends in Bakersfield. There is also a Greyhound Lines
terminal downtown.
Public transportation in Long Beach is provided by Long Beach Transit. Besides the
normal bus service, which charges a fare, Long Beach has free routes, the "Pine
Avenue Link" and Passport routes, which use mini-buses to shuttle passengers within
the downtown area. The Passport "C" route between the downtown and the Queen
Mary, and Passport "A" and "D" buses go East-West along Ocean Boulevard, linking
the Catalina Landing in the west with Belmont Shore in the east. (The Passport "B"
has been renamed the Pine Avenue Link.) A 90-cent fare is required when traveling
east of Atlantic Avenue. Another free route, "Village Tour D'art" in the East Village,
visits museums and other points of interest.
Long Beach Transit also operates the 49-passenger AquaBus water taxi, which stops
at the Aquarium of the Pacific, the Queen Mary, and four other stops; and the
75-passenger AquaLink water taxi, which travels between the Aquarium, the Queen
Mary, and Alamitos Bay Landing next to the Long Beach Marina.
There is also limited bus service to Orange County through Orange County
Transportation Authority buses. Route 1, which ends in San Clemente is the longest
bus route in the OCTA system. Traveling along Pacific Coast Highway for most of the
route, it takes 2-2.5 hrs to complete.
Torrance Transit buses go from downtown Long Beach to the South Bay. The Los
Angeles Department of Transportation (LADOT) has bus service from downtown to
San Pedro, and the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority
(LACMTA) has two regional bus lines that serve downtown Long Beach.
Long Beach Municipal Airport serves the Long Beach, South Bay and northern Orange
County areas, but is relatively small, considering the area's population. It is the
West Coast hub for JetBlue Airways. It is also the site of a major Boeing (formerly
Douglas, then McDonnell Douglas) aircraft production facility, which is the city's
largest employer.
Several freeways run through Long Beach, connecting it with the greater Los
Angeles and Orange County areas. The San Diego (405) freeway roughly bisects the
city and takes commuters northwest or southeast to the Golden State (5) freeway.
The Long Beach (710) freeway runs north-south, starting at the southern end
between the Port of Long Beach and downtown Long Beach, and terminating just
past the intersection with Santa Monica (10) freeway on the border between El
Sereno neighbor or Los Angeles and Alhambra. The eastern border of the city is
traversed by the San Gabriel River (605) freeway, which joins the 405 at the Long
Beach/Los Alamitos border. The Artesia Freeway California State Route 91 runs
east-west near the northern border of Long Beach.
California State Route 1 (more commonly known as Pacific Coast Highway or PCH)
runs through Long Beach. The intersection of PCH, Lakewood Boulevard (California
State Route 19) and Los Coyotes Diagonal is the "infamous" Long Beach Traffic
Circle).
Long Beach has some bike paths along city streets, plus the Long Beach bicycle path
along the ocean from Shoreline Village to Belmont Shore, plus there are bike paths
along both the San Gabriel and Los Angeles rivers.

Culture Art
The Long Beach Museum of Art is owned by the City of Long Beach, and operated by
the Long Beach Museum of Art Foundation. Long Beach also features the Museum of
Latin American Art, founded in 1996 by Dr. Robert Gumbiner. It is the only museum
in the western United States that exclusively features Latin American art.
The University Art Museum on the Long Beach State campus (founded in 1973) has a
national reputation for its high-quality and innovative programs. [2] Long Beach
State is also home to the largest publicly funded art school west of the Mississippi.
In 1965, Long Beach State hosted the first International Sculpture Symposium to be
held in the United States and the first at a college or university. Six sculptors from
around the world and two from the United States created many of the monumental
sculptures seen on the campus. There are now over 20 sculptures on the campus.
The Southern California is known for its street art and the Long Beach area has
many fine examples. Some of the murals were created in conjunction with the city's
Mural and Cultural Arts Program, but many others were not.
On the exterior of the Long Beach Sports Arena is one of environmental artist
Wyland's Whaling Walls. At 116,000 square feet (11,000 m²), it is the world's largest
mural (according to the Guinness Book of Records).
The second Saturday of every month local artists and artisans in the city congregate
in the East Village Arts District downtown Long Beach to sell their wares and
perform.

Music
The Long Beach Symphony Orchestra plays numerous classical and pop music
concerts throughout the year. The symphony plays at the Terrace Theater in the
Long Beach Convention and Entertainment Center.
KJAZZ 88.1 FM (KKJZ) broadcasts from California State University, Long Beach. The
station features jazz and blues music exclusively and can also be listened to over
the Internet.
Long Beach is the host to a number of long-running music festivals. They include the
Bob Marley Reggae Festival (February), the Cajun & Zydeco Festival (May), the
Aloha Concert Jam (Hawaiian music, June), the Long Beach Jazz Festival (August),
the Long Beach Blues Festival (September, since 1980), and the Brazilian Street
Carnaval (Brazilian music, September).
The bands Sublime, the Long Beach Dub Allstars (formed by the members of Sublime
after their lead singer Brad Nowell died of a heroin overdose) and Long Beach
Shortbus (formed after the break-up of the Allstars) are from Long Beach.
New-wave punk band Le Shok hailed from Long Beach.
Rappers Snoop Dogg, Warren G and Zack de la Rocha were born and raised in Long
Beach. The city is also home to the VIP Records store which has been featured in
music videos by Snoop Dogg and other rap music artists. (The corner of "21 and
Lewis" that Warren G mentions in "Regulate" is very close to VIP Records.)
Melissa Etheridge got her start performing at Que Sera, a former lesbian bar in Long
Beach.
The Long Beach Municipal Band, founded in 1909 is the longest running, municipally
supported band in the country. In 2005, the band played 24 concerts in various parks
around Long Beach.
The Long Beach Community Band, including the Shoreline Concert Band and the
Blue Pacific Swing Band, is an all volunteer group of musicians that's been
performing concerts in the Long Beach area since 1947.
The Vault 350, a music performance nightclub, is one of several bars and nightclubs
located on Pine Avenue in Downtown Long Beach. The popular Blues Cafe is located
nearby.
Sports
The Long Beach Grand Prix in April is the single largest event in Long Beach. It
started in 1975 as a Formula 5000 race on the streets of downtown, and became a
Formula One the following year. Since 1984 it has been a Champ Car event. During
the same week as the Grand Prix, there are also Trans-Am, and Toyota Atlantic
races, plus an Historic Grand Prix features pre-1990 cars, and the Toyota
Pro/Celebrity race.
Long Beach is home to the Long Beach Ice Dogs minor-league (ECHL) hockey team.
The Ice Dogs play their home games at the Long Beach Sports Arena. The city is also
home to a minor league baseball team called the Long Beach Armada who play in
the independent Golden Baseball League. The minor league basketball team
nicknamed the Long Beach Jam play in the American Basketball Association (ABA).
The Southern California Summer Pro League is a showcase for current and
prospective NBA basketball players, including recent draft picks, current NBA
players working on their skills and conditioning, and international professionals
hoping to become NBA players. The league plays at the Pyramid (a pyramid-shaped
gym) on the Long Beach State campus during July.
Since its inception in August 1964, the Congressional Cup has grown into one of the
major international sailing events. Now held in April, it is the only grade 1 match
race regatta held in the United States. The one-on-one race format is the same as
the America's Cup, and many of the winners of the Congressional Cup have gone on
to win the America's Cup as well.
In July, there is the annual Catalina Ski Race, which starts from Long Beach Harbor
and goes to Catalina Island and back to complete a 100 km (62 mile) circuit. This
race has been held annually since 1948 and features skiers from around the world.
During the two Olympics held in Los Angeles, Long Beach has hosted a number of the
competitions, including rowing events in the Marine Stadium, sailing events off the
coast of Long Beach, volleyball in the Long Beach Sports Arena, and archery at El
Dorado Regional Park. For the 1984 Summer Olympics, Long Beach hosted yachting,
volleyball, fencing and archery competitions. For the 1932 Summer Olympics, Long
Beach hosted the rowing competition. The Belmont Plaza Pool hosted U.S. Olympic
swimming trials in 1968, 1976, and 2004.
Blair Field (built in 1958) has hosting numerous American Legion baseball, Connie
Mack baseball, high school, junior college, college, minor league baseball and major
league spring training exhibition baseball games. It has also been host of six MTV
Rock & Jock softball games, and has been the filming location for numerous film, TV
and commercial productions.
The Leeway Sailing and Aquatics Center on Alamitos Bay in Belmont Shore is a youth
sailing program founded in 1929. It is recognized as one of the premier municipal
instructional sailing programs in the country.
Long Beach has five municipal golf courses, as well as the private Virginia Country
Club in the Bixby Knolls area. Recreation Park, built in 1917, is one of the busiest
golf courses in the United States.
Long Beach is the childhood home of tennis legend Billie Jean King and eight-time
National League batting champion and longtime San Diego Padres outfielder Tony
Gwynn.
2004 Summer Olympics gold medal winning beach volleyball player Misty
May-Treanor graduated from California State University, Long Beach (where she
won a national championship and several other awards), and currently resides in
Long Beach.
Parks and recreation
The Long Beach Department of Parks, Recreation and Marine received a Gold Medal
award from the National Parks and Recreation Society in 2002, 2003, and 2004,
recognizing the Department's "outstanding management practices and programs."
The Department manages 92 parks covering over 3,100 acres (13 km²) throughout
the city, including the 815 acre (3.3 km²) El Dorado Regional Park, which features
fishing lakes, an archery range, youth campground, bike trails, and picnic areas.
The Department also operates four public swimming pools, and four launch ramps
for boaters to access the Pacific Ocean.
The 102.5 acre El Dorado Nature Center is part of the larger El Dorado Regional
Park. The center features lakes, a stream, and trails, with meadows and forested
areas.
Rancho Los Alamitos is a 7.5 acre historical site owned by the City of Long Beach
that is near Long Beach State. The site includes five agricultural buildings, including
a working blacksmith's shop, four acres of gardens, and a adobe ranch house dating
from around 1800. The Rancho is within a gated community, so you must pass
through security gates to get to it.
Rancho Los Cerritos is a 4.7 acre historical site owned by Long Beach in the Bixby
Knolls area near the Virginia Country Club. The adobe buildings date from the
1880s. The site also includes a California history research library.
The Earl Burns Miller Japanese Garden is located on the campus of California State
University, Long Beach.
Multicultural events
Scottish Festival and Games (Queen Mary, Feb.), Annual Indian Pow Wow (CSULB,
March), Cambodian New Year Celebration (El Dorado Park, March or April), the
Kaleidoscope Festival (CSULB, April), Cinco de Mayo (at the Museum of Latin
American Art, plus several celebrations in city parks, May 5), Long Beach Pride
Festival (May), Juneteenth Festival (Martin Luther King Park, mid-June), Tafesilafa'i
(Pacific Islander festival, Shoreline Village, July), E Hula Mau (Hula and Chant
competition, Terrace Theater, Labor Day weekend), Annual Grecian Festival (Greek
Orthodox Church of Long Beach, Labor Day weekend), and the Brazilian Street
Carnival (Sept.)
The Port of Long Beach is the second busiest seaport in the United States . The port
serves shipping between the United States and the Pacific Rim. The combined
operations of the Port of Long Beach and the Port of Los Angeles are the busiest in
the USA.
Rail shipping is provided by Union Pacific Railroad and BNSF Railway, which carry
about half of the trans-shipments from the port. Long Beach has contributed to the
Alameda Corridor project to increase the capacity of the rail lines, roads, and
highways connecting the port to the Los Angeles rail hub. The project, completed in
2002, created a 20 mile (32 km) long, 33 ft (10 m) deep trench in order to eliminate
200 grade crossings and cost about US$2.4 billion.
Long Beach is the southern terminus for the Los Angeles Metro Blue Line light rail
corridor. Blue Line trains run from Long Beach City Hall to Downtown Los Angeles.
The Metro Rail Blue Line Maintenance Shops, are also located in Long Beach just
south of the Del Amo Blue Line station.
There is an Amtrak Thruway bus shuttle starting in San Pedro, with stops at the
Queen Mary and downtown Long Beach, that then goes to Union Station in
downtown Los Angeles, and ends in Bakersfield. There is also a Greyhound Lines
terminal downtown.
Public transportation in Long Beach is provided by Long Beach Transit. Besides the
normal bus service, which charges a fare, Long Beach has free routes, the "Pine
Avenue Link" and Passport routes, which use mini-buses to shuttle passengers within
the downtown area. The Passport "C" route between the downtown and the Queen
Mary, and Passport "A" and "D" buses go East-West along Ocean Boulevard, linking
the Catalina Landing in the west with Belmont Shore in the east. (The Passport "B"
has been renamed the Pine Avenue Link.) A 90-cent fare is required when traveling
east of Atlantic Avenue. Another free route, "Village Tour D'art" in the East Village,
visits museums and other points of interest.
Long Beach Transit also operates the 49-passenger AquaBus water taxi, which stops
at the Aquarium of the Pacific, the Queen Mary, and four other stops; and the
75-passenger AquaLink water taxi, which travels between the Aquarium, the Queen
Mary, and Alamitos Bay Landing next to the Long Beach Marina.
There is also limited bus service to Orange County through Orange County
Transportation Authority buses. Route 1, which ends in San Clemente is the longest
bus route in the OCTA system. Traveling along Pacific Coast Highway for most of the
route, it takes 2-2.5 hrs to complete.
Torrance Transit buses go from downtown Long Beach to the South Bay. The Los
Angeles Department of Transportation (LADOT) has bus service from downtown to
San Pedro, and the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority
(LACMTA) has two regional bus lines that serve downtown Long Beach.
Long Beach Municipal Airport serves the Long Beach, South Bay and northern Orange
County areas, but is relatively small, considering the area's population. It is the
West Coast hub for JetBlue Airways. It is also the site of a major Boeing (formerly
Douglas, then McDonnell Douglas) aircraft production facility, which is the city's
largest employer.
Several freeways run through Long Beach, connecting it with the greater Los
Angeles and Orange County areas. The San Diego (405) freeway roughly bisects the
city and takes commuters northwest or southeast to the Golden State (5) freeway.
The Long Beach (710) freeway runs north-south, starting at the southern end
between the Port of Long Beach and downtown Long Beach, and terminating just
past the intersection with Santa Monica (10) freeway on the border between El
Sereno neighbor or Los Angeles and Alhambra. The eastern border of the city is
traversed by the San Gabriel River (605) freeway, which joins the 405 at the Long
Beach/Los Alamitos border. The Artesia Freeway California State Route 91 runs
east-west near the northern border of Long Beach.
California State Route 1 (more commonly known as Pacific Coast Highway or PCH)
runs through Long Beach. Where it intersects with Lakewood Boulevard (California
State Route 19) and Los Coyotes Diagonal is the "infamous" Long Beach Traffic
Circle).
Long Beach has some bike paths along city streets, plus the Long Beach bicycle path
along the ocean from Shoreline Village to Belmont Shore, plus there are bike paths
along both the San Gabriel and Los Angeles rivers.
Two Eastsides?
There are two very different "Eastsides" in Long Beach. The traditional Eastside is
on the east side of the city. The boundaries are (roughly) Carson Blvd. (N),
Interstate 605 (San Gabriel Freeway) (E), The Pacific Ocean (S), and Redondo ave
(W).
The second Eastside is an area on the east side of the Los Angeles River Refered to
as Central Long Beach by city officials. It is called the East-side mostly by
minorities. This neighborhood was over 80% percent Black up until the 1980's, but
with increased Hispanic and Cambodian immigration that number dwindled to
somewhere between 25% and 30%. The eastside is claimed by several different
street gangs, such as the East Side Longos (Latino Gang), Rolling Twenty Crip (Black
Gang), Insane Crip (Black Gang), and Cambodian gangs. It is also associated with a
number of Long Beach rap artists, such as Snoop Dogg's Eastsidaz. The boundaries
for this second Eastside are (very roughly) Willow Ave. and then the Signal Hill city
limits (N), Redondo ave (E), 7th street (S), and the Los Angeles River (W).
Crime
Crime in Long Beach has been dramatically reduced since the early 1990's. There
were 126 murders in 1993 when the population was just over 300,000. In 2002, the
number of murders was 67 making almost a 50%
differential.http://www.city-data.com/city/Long-Beach-California.html But gangs
are still present in inner-city Long Beach. With a very ethnically diverse population,
Long Beach can be a volatile mix of Black, Latino, and Asian gangs crammed into
the higher density Central Long Beach and Westside areas.
Trivia
Douglas "Wrong Way" Corrigan used to regularly fly out of Daugherty Field (which
later became the Long Beach Airport). Before his infamous flight from Brooklyn,
New York to Ireland in 1938, he had already flown a transcontinental flight from
Long Beach to New York. He was supposed to be returning to Daugherty Field after
authorities had refused his request to fly on to Ireland, but because of a claimed
navigational error, he ended up in Ireland instead. He never publicly acknowledged
having flown to Ireland intentionally.
The first Miss Universe contest was held in Long Beach on 29 June 1952, as well as
the 1953-1959 Miss Universe contests. After the Miss Universe contest moved to
Miami in 1960, the first Miss International contest was held in Long Beach in 1960,
and continued until 1968 when the contest moved to Japan. The Miss International
contest was again held in Long Beach in 1971 before returning permanently to
Japan.