Port of Los Angeles, also known as America’s Port, was established in 1907 and helped transform Los Angeles into the international trade center of today. While the Port was not officially founded until 1907, it had a 250-year-long history as a center of commerce stemming from California’s roots as a Spanish colony.
Throughout the early 20th century, the Port had an important economic role in not only the state economy but the national and global economy. By 1913, the Port served as the world’s largest lumber importer, used to satisfy the rapid development of the City of Los Angeles. By the 1920s, the Port had surpassed San Fransisco as the West’s busiest port.
The Port was home to the United Fruit Company and imported innumerable amounts of Bananas from South America, and Union Oil and Standard Oil companies, which were vital to the growth of the country’s oil industry. It was also home to the Great White Fleet, the cornerstone of President Theodore Roosevelt’s Big Stick diplomacy. Due to its logistical, economical, and political prominence, the Port of Los Angeles was crucial to the United State’s development of the Panama Canal. During World War II, the Port was a valuable shipbuilding resource, making massive contributions to the war effort, and employing nearly 90,000 people.
Today, the Port of Los Angeles comprises of 7,500 acres of land and water along 43 miles of waterfront. It features 27 passenger, cargo terminals, and warehouse facilities that handle billions of dollars worth of freight each year. Today, the Port of Los Angeles is the busiest port in the United States by container volume and the 19th busiest port in the world.
In 2002, the Board of Harbor Commissioners for terminal and ship operations programs targeted at reducing polluting emissions from vessels and cargo handling equipment as a part of a new sustainability initiative. Their sustainability initiative can be summed up in this quote from the Port of Los Angeles website:
The Port of Los Angeles is committed to promoting responsible growth and supporting innovative development. Utilizing the tenets of sustainability, the Port works toward the best interests of the community, environment, and economy. These principles are practiced through integral considerations during planning, design and construction, and throughout operations and maintenance of Port facilities and structures.
Port Story is a new series detailing the history and operations of trade ports across the United States and the world. Want to see a port that interests you? Let us know in the comments below, or check out our last installment in the series.