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San Pedro
—  Neighborhood of Los Angeles  —
Nickname(s): San Pedro
San Pedro Location within Southern Los Angeles
Coordinates: 33°44′N 118°17′W / 33.74°N 118.29°W / 33.74; -118.29Coordinates: 33°44′N 118°17′W / 33.74°N 118.29°W / 33.74; -118.29
Population
• Total	86,000
Time zone	PST (UTC-8)
• Summer (DST)	PDT (UTC-7)
ZIP codes 90731, 90732
Area code(s)	310/424
FIPS code
GNIS feature ID

San Pedro ([sanˈpidɾo]) is a port district of the city of Los Angeles, California. Formerly a separate city, it consolidated with Los Angeles in 1909 and is a major seaport of the area. The district has grown from being dominated by the fishing industry to become primarily a middle class community within the city of Los Angeles.

Geography [edit]

Boundaries of San Pedro as drawn by the Los Angeles Times

San Pedro is located at 33°44′N 118°18′W / 33.733°N 118.300°W / 33.733; -118.300 (33.74, −118.29).^[1] The neighborhood fronts on the Pacific Ocean to the south and is bounded inland by Harbor City on the north, Wilmington and Long Beach on the east and Rancho Palos Verdes and Lomita on the west. San Pedro straddles both sides of the Los Angeles River as it flows into the ocean.^[2][3]

History [edit]

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. The peninsula, including all of San Pedro, was the homeland of the Tongva-Gabrieleño Native Americans people for thousands of years. In other areas of the Los Angeles Basin archeological sites date back 8,000 -15,000 years. The Tongva believe they have been here since the beginning of time. Once called the "lords of the ocean," due to their mastery of their ocean going canoes (Ti'ats). Many village covered the coastline. The Tongva lived in a virtual paradise, till colonization. [4][5] Their first contact with Europeans in 1542 with João Cabrilho (Juan Cabrillo), the Portuguese explorer who also was the first to write of them. Chowigna and Suangna were two Tongva settlements of many in the peninsula area, which was also a departure point for their rancherias on the Channel Islands. Legend has it that the Native Americans blessed the land of Palos Verdes, making it the most beautiful place on Earth. The Tongva called the San Pedro area "Chaaw."^[4]

Origin of name [edit]

San Pedro was named for St. Peter of Alexandria, a Fourth Century bishop in Alexandria, Egypt. His feast day is November 24 on the local ecclesiastical calendar of Spain, the day on which Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo discovered the bay in 1542 which would be known as San Pedro. 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.

Settlement [edit]

European settlement began in 1769 as part of an effort to populate California, although trade restrictions encouraged more smuggling than regular business. Rancho San Pedro is the site of the first Spanish land grant in Alta California, New Spain. The land was granted in 1784 by King Carlos III to Juan Jose Dominguez, a retired Spanish soldier who came to California with the Gaspar de Portolà expedition.

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. San Pedro has now become the largest port on the West Coast of the United States and the busiest port in the country.

United States Navy Battle Fleet home port 1919–1940 [edit]

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. Woodrow Wilson transferred 200 United States Navy ships from the Atlantic to the Pacific in 1919 when tension arose between the United States and Japan over the fate of China. San Diego Bay was considered too shallow for the largest ships, so the battleships anchored in San Pedro Bay on August 9, 1919. Local availability of fuel oil minimized transportation costs, and consistently good weather allowed frequent gunnery exercises off the nearby Channel Islands of California. The heavy cruisers of the Scouting Force were transferred from the Atlantic to San Pedro in response to the 1931 Japanese invasion of Manchuria. By 1934, 14 battleships, two aircraft carriers, 14 cruisers, and 16 support ships were based at San Pedro. On April 1, 1940, the Pacific Fleet battleships sailed to Hawaii for annual fleet exercises. The battleships remained in the Hawaiian Islands to deter Japanese aggression until the attack on Pearl Harbor. 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;^[5] but the battle fleet never returned.^[6]

Appropriately, San Pedro has been selected as the final home-port of the battleship USS Iowa (BB-61). The Iowa is to serve as a museum ship and memorial recognizing "the positive contributions of this battleship and its crew at critical moments in American history".^[7]

Los Angeles consolidation [edit]

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, both of the latter going out of existence.^{[citation needed]}

Port of Los Angeles [edit]

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

Locations of interest [edit]

One San Pedro landmark is the Vincent Thomas Bridge, a 1,500-foot (457 m)-long suspension bridge linking San Pedro with Terminal Island and named after California Assemblyman Vincent Thomas. It is the third longest suspension bridge in California. Nearby is the Battleship USS IOWA educational museum & attraction, the Los Angeles Maritime Museum, the largest maritime museum in California, as is the museum ship SS Lane Victory, a fully operational victory ship of World War II and National Historic Landmark. There is also the famous "Ports O' Call" tourist destination built in 1963 which provides many interesting shopping venues and a host of unique waterfront eateries.

The Frank Gehry–designed Cabrillo Marine Aquarium had its origins in the old Cabrillo Beach Marine Museum which was located in the historic Bath House at Cabrillo Beach. 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. The church of Mary Star of the Sea is a prominent landmark with a steeple-top statue overlooking the harbour.

On July 19, 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 trolleys built to resemble the wood-bodied 500 class cars introduced in 1905 for the Pacific Electric Railway, which once operated more than 1,000 miles (1,600 km) of track running streetcars and interurbans in Southern California. The 1.5-mile (2.4 km) line operates along former Pacific Electric right-of-way. The line, rebuilt and maintained by the Port of Los Angeles, also has one original restored Pacific Electric interurban, which is used only for special charter excursions and special events. The original car is in fact Pacific Electric 963 (former Los Angeles Pacific 713 as built in 1907) rebuilt by Richard Fellows and renumbered 1058. Discussions have been held to extend the line to the Cabrillo Marine Aquarium.^[8]

Twenty-Eighth Street in San Pedro, between Gaffey Street and Peck Avenue, is the steepest section of public roadway in Los Angeles. For about 50 feet (15 m), the street climbs at a 33.3% angle, although the rest of the street is less steep.^[9]

There is also "sunken city" that is just east of Point Fermin where the land literally "sunk" into the sea.^[10]

The location known as Liberty Hill was the birthplace of the Southern California ACLU. ON May 15, 1923 social activist Upton Sinclair together with Hunter S. Kimbrough, his brother-in-law, Prince Hopkins and Hugh Hardyman were arrested for reading from the Bill of Rights of the US Constitution at Liberty Hill, which is believed to be the intersection of 4th and Beacon Streets. This exercise of free speech took place during a strike of longshoreman. The waterfront was tense when the strike was called. The employers' fear of unions and eagerness to cut back on union gains made during the war was set against keen union interest not to lose benefits gained during the war.^[11]

Special events [edit]

• Annual "Shakespeare by the Sea, Los Angeles" Festival, held at Point Fermin Park each summer.

Population [edit]

Population history [edit]

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, Portuguese, Mexican, Italian, Irish and Greek. San Pedro is home to the largest Italian-American community in Southern California, centered on the "Via Italia" (South Cabrillo Avenue). Estimates state that the community numbers about 45,000 Italian-Americans. San Pedro is also considered the heart of the 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.

A large portion of San Pedro is also composed of Mexican-Americans, Hispanic immigrants and African-Americans with long-time roots in the community. Much of their populations are based in the older, east side of the community surrounding the downtown area and bordering the Port of Los Angeles.

Until February 1942, San Pedro was home to a vibrant Japanese immigrant community of about 3,000 people who lived in what had been described as a " typical Japanese Fishing Village" on Terminal Island (East San Pedro).These Japanese immigrants pioneered albacore fishing out of San Pedro Bay and harvesting abalone off of White Point, thus leading the way in establishing a viable fishing industry in San Pedro. The 48-hour forced expulsion of these San Pedro residents and the razing of their homes and shops, as part of the Japanese-American internment during World War II, is described in Jeanne Wakatsuki Houston's memoir Farewell to Manzanar.

2000 census [edit]

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, among the lowest population densities in the city as a whole. Population was estimated at 86,012 in 2008. The median age was 34, considered average in Los Angeles.^[12]

San Pedro is considered highly diverse ethnically, with a diversity index of 63.0.^[13] In 2000 whites made up 44.2% of the population, Latinos were at 40.8%, blacks at 6.1%, 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.^[12]

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.^[12]

Economy [edit]

Eva Air had its United States headquarters in San Pedro before moving it to Norwalk, California in 1997.^[14]

Government and infrastructure [edit]

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.^[15][16] The USPS also operates the Seafarers Post Office at Suite A at 93 Berth in close proximity to the San Pedro Post Office.^[17]

The Federal Bureau of Prisons operates the Federal Correctional Institution, Terminal Island on Terminal Island and in San Pedro.^[18]

Education [edit]

Just 22.8% 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.^[12]

Primary and secondary schools [edit]

San Pedro is served by the Los Angeles Unified School District. The area is within Board District 7.^[19] As of 2012, Dr. Richard Vladovic represents the district.^[20]

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 recently 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 2002 test scores tend to be higher in the area's elementary schools than in its middle and high schools.^[21]

Primary schools (Grades 1–5)

• 15th Street Elementary^[22][23]
• Bandini Elementary^[24]
• Barton Hill Elementary^[25][26]
• Cabrillo Early Education Center^[27]
• Cabrillo Elementary^[28]
• Leland Elementary^[29]
• Park Western Harbor Magnet^[30]
• Point Fermin Elementary^[31]
• San Pedro/Wilmington Early Education Center^[32]
• South Shores Magnet for the Visual and Performing Arts Elementary School
• Taper Elementary^[33][34]
• Taper Avenue Elementary Technology Magnet Center^[35]
• White Point Elementary^[36]
• Crestwood Elementary
• 7th Street Elementary

Secondary schools (Grades 6–12)

• Dana Middle School^[30][37]
• Dodson Middle School (though actually located in Rancho Palos Verdes it is part of LAUSD)
• San Pedro High School^[38] [6]
  • San Pedro High School Marine Science Magnet^[39]
  • San Pedro High School Police Academy^[40]
• Port of Los Angeles High School

Continuation schools

• Angel's Gate Continuation High^[41]
• Cooper Community Day School^[42]
• Harbor Community Adult School^[43]
• Harbor Occupational Center^[44]

Private schools

Private schools in San Pedro include:

Grades 1–8

• Holy Trinity School^[45]—Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Los Angeles

Grades 1–8

• Mary Star of the Sea Elementary School^[46]—Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Los Angeles

Grades Preschool-8th

• Christ Lutheran Church and School ^[47]

Grades 6–12

• Rolling Hills Estates Preparatory School—the current location opened on February 6, 2007.^[48]

Grades 9–12

• Mary Star of the Sea High School—Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Los Angeles^[49]

Libraries [edit]

Los Angeles Public Library operates the San Pedro Regional Branch Library at 931 South Gaffey. This library was opened in 1983 in the presence of the late Los Angeles Mayor Tom Bradley.^[50]

Notable residents [edit]

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Art [edit]

• Craig Keith Antrim is a graduate of Claremont graduate school. His work is in the collection of the Getty, LACMA, and Cocoran Gallery of Art in Washington D.C.^[51]
• Elmer Albert Batters (1919–1997): Famous fashion and glamour photographer^[52]
• Mark “Mr. Cartoon” Machado: Mexican-American artist of designs, sneakers, tattoos, Joker Brand clothing, album covers, video game atmospheres, and public works^[53][54]
• William Crutchfield is an internationally known artist in a variety of mediums including painting, drawing, printmaking and sculpture. A Fulbright Scholarship funded his studies in Hamburg, Germany from 1960 to 1962. William Crutchfield's work can be found in numerous public and private collections including the Baltimore Museum of Art, Baltimore, The Art Institute of Chicago, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, Museum of Modern Art, New York, National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC, and the Tate Modern, London.^[55]
• Michael Davis. It's hard to miss the work of artist Michael Davis. His public art inhabits Times Square, LA Metro stations and plazas throughout the U.S. and Japan. His work is viewed by literally hundreds of thousands each day.^[56]
• Jay Meuser (1911–1963): Artistic painter who commenced residing in San Pedro in 1944. In his honor, a bronze plaque is mounted on a building in the heart of the art gallery district at 343 West Seventh Street—the 100th anniversary of his birth was September 28, 2011.^[57][58]
• Jay McCafferty. McCafferty practices a method of solar burning, done on the roof of his San Pedro studio. In the process, he rubs pastel on paper. Focusing the sun's rays with a magnifying glass, he creates a loose grid on his finished work. McCafferty was included in the Getty PST exhibition at Laguna Art Museum last year. His impressive resume stretches back more than 30 years and represents a massive body of work with exhibitions in museums and galleries across the country.^[59]
• Scott Stantis: Editorial cartoonist for the Chicago Tribune and USA Today who created the comic strips, "The Buckets" and "Prickly City". Stantis resided in San Pedro between 1977 and 1986, and was married to a woman from the city—he now resides in Chicago, US.^[60][61]
• Misty Copeland: First African-American soloist to play in the American Ballet Theatre—Copeland has also been described as the muse of widely popular musician, Prince.^[62]
• Eugene L. Daub Sculptor of the statue of Rosa Parks, installed in the US Capitol building, 2013. Daub created the statue with his partner Rob Firmin. Daub is a recognized contemporary figure sculptor. He attended the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts in Philadelphia, and taught there. He has been an instructor at the Scottsdale Artists’ School, and designer of the first Philadelphia Liberty Medal, which that city awards every year to a champion of world peace.^[63]

Acting [edit]

• Mike Lookinland: The actor who played the youngest brother, "Bobby Brady", on The Brady Bunch television series, from 1969 until 1974. Lookinland lived in San Pedro during his experience as a child actor. Lookinland attended Chadwick School on the Palos Verdes Peninsula, just outside of Northwest San Pedro.^[64][65]
• Dewey Martin: Actor who was known for roles in Howard Hawks' 1950s films of who, as of October 6, 2007, was known to be resaiding in San Pedro.^[66]
• Patrick Muldoon: An actor who starred in regular recurring roles in the well-known soap operas, Days of Our Lives and Melrose Place. Muldoon's most well-known featurew film production is the 1997 film, Starship Troopers. Muldoon's father was a lifeguard at Cabrillo beach in San Pedro.^[67][68]
• Sharon Tate, actress and wife of Roman Polanski, brutally murdered by the "Manson Family".
• D. L. Hughley: A comedian and actor who attended San Pedro High School.^[69][70]
• Kirk Harris: An actor and filmmaker, who starred in The Kid: Chamaco, with Martin Sheen and Michael Madsen, among other films.^[71] Harris resides in the South Shores area of San Pedro.^{[citation needed]}
• Anthony Head: British actor, best known for his roles in Joss Whedon's now-ended television series, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and the ongoing Merlin television series, produced by the BBC,^[72] owns a home in San Pedro.^{[citation needed]}

Music [edit]

• Ambrosia: Well-known "classic rock" band that achieved numerous top 40 hits, such as "You're the Biggest Part of Me" and "(That's) How Much I Feel"—the band was formed in the South Bay/San Pedro area.^[73]
• People Under the Stairs: Rap group.
• John Bettis: Lyricist for many big artists, such as Michael Jackson, Madonna, The Carpenters, and Whitney Houston. Bettis, who graduated from San Pedro High School, has been nominated for an Academy Award, a Golden Globe, three Grammys and three Emmys.^[74][75]
• Minutemen: The members of this influential, eclectic punk rock trio grew up in San Pedro where the band was also formed. The surviving members, bassist/songwriter, Mike Watt, and drummer, George Hurley, still reside in San Pedro, where the former remains active in the city's music scene.^[76] Music journalist, John Calvert, has written in a brief history of the band:

Was there ever a more paradoxical band than the Minutemen? Comprising D. Boon, Mike Watt and drummer George Hurley, natives of working class seaport San Pedro, card-carrying socialists, unpretentious to a fault, and forever jocular, the Minutemen were alt-rock's most blue-collar act; the union heavies of the 80s underground.^[77]

• Krist Novoselic: Novoselic grew up in San Pedro after his Croatian father emigrated to the Croatian enclave in the southern Californian city. Later, the future Nirvana bassist would relocate to Aberdeen, Washington, US.^[78]
• Art Pepper: A jazz saxophonist who was born in nearby Gardena, California, but was raised in San Pedro.^[79]
• Brenton Wood: Wood, a 1960s pop-soul vocalist, achieved his biggest hit with "Gimme Little Sign", a song that reached #9 on the 1967 pop charts, and "The Oogum Boogum Song", released in the same year.^[80]
• Eric Erlandson: Born and raised in San Pedro, Erlandson was the co-founder and lead guitarist for 1990s "grunge rock" band, Hole (led by Courtney Love). Following the band's dissolution in 2002, Erlandson achieved a Bachelor of Science in Economics from Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles, the city he resides in as of 2011.^[81]
• Blu: A Los Angeles-based rapper and record producer who relocated with his family to San Pedro at the commencement of his tenth year of school.^[82]
• Jim Korthe: Vocalist for rap-metal group, 3rd Strike, who grew up in San Pedro and attended the Bishop Montgomery school as a teenager—Korthe died in his San Pedro home in January 2010 at the age of 39 years.^[83][84]
• Miguel: With the birth name, Miguel Jontel Pimentel, Miguel is a singer who is a native of San Pedro and was born to a Mexican father and an African American mother.^[85]

Politics [edit]

• John S. Gibson, Jr.: A Los Angeles City Council representative, lived in San Pedro until his death in 1981. Gibson first moved to San Pedro with his wife in 1928 and founded the first Boys' Club of California in 1937.^[86]
• James Hahn: Former Mayor of Los Angeles, is, as of 2011, a resident of the city and is described as living, worshipping, shopping, and playing in the area, alongside his sister, Janice.^[87]
• Janice Hahn: Former City Councilwoman (15th district) and active Congresswoman for the 36th District, resides in the area as of 2011, and her District office is located on West 6th Street.^[87]
• A.E. Henning: A Rotarian Special Representative for Torrance, California and a Los Angeles, California City Council member (1929–1931).^[88][89]
• Joe Hill, a radical songwriter, labor activist, and member of the Industrial Workers of the World (The Wobblies), lived and worked in San Pedro in the early years of the 20th century, and it was in the area that he began his labor organizing activism. Hill was a secretary of the San Pedro Wobblies chapter and was imprisoned for thirty days after playing a lead role in the organization of a dockworkers' strike, whereby 200 Italian workers abandoned their posts on July 21, 1912.^[90]
• Yuri Kochiyama: A human rights activist (in both Harlem, New York, US and Oakland, California, US) and Nobel Peace prize nominee, Kochiyama worked with Black Power organizations and was a leader of the Asian American and redress movements in New York City. Kochiyama held Malcolm X's head at the Audubon Ballroom in 1965 after he had been shot by an assassin. Kochiyama stated after her Nobel nomination that: "The worst recipients [of the Nobel Peace Prize] were Theodore Roosevelt and Henry Kissinger and the worst nominees were George Bush senior and Tony Blair.”^[91][92]
• Mike Lansing: Born and raised in San Pedro, Lansing served two terms on the Los Angeles Unified School District and, as of 2011, is the Executive Director of the Boys & Girls Clubs of the Los Angeles Harbor (BGCLAH).^[93]
• Vincent Thomas: Originally a Croatian immigrant, Thomas moved with his family to San Pedro when he was ten years of age. Thomas was elected as a California Assemblyman representing the 68th District from 1940 through 1978—he served nineteen consecutive terms. The famous Vincent Thomas Bridge was named in his honor in 1961, for his diligence and dedication, after the California Legislature passed Concurrent Resolution 131.^[94]

Science [edit]

• John Olguin: Director of the Cabrillo Marine Aquarium—from 1949 until 1987—founding member of the American Cetacean Society, and referred to as the "father of recreational whale watching."^[95]

Sports [edit]

• Joe Amalfitano: Born in San Pedro, Almafitano's baseball career began with the New York Giants (1954–1960), and then continued on with the San Francisco Giants (1960–1962 and 1963), the Houston Colt .45s (1962), and the Chicago Cubs (1964–1967).^[96]
• Alan Ashby: Born in Long Beach, California, Ashby attended high school in San Pedro. He was a catcher for the Houston Astros, Toronto Blue Jays, and the Cleveland Indians between 1973 and 1989.^[97]
• Denise Austin: A fitness instructor, author, and celebrity who has created eighty-two workout videos/DVDs, with high sales totals leading to her 2003 induction into the Video Hall of Fame.^[98]
• James Cotton Jr.: The 6-foot-5 forward was raised in San Pedro, attended high school in Lakewood, California, and returned with his family to San Pedro to be near family and friends. Cotton was a shooting guard for the Chicago Bulls (1999) following terms playing for the Seattle SuperSonics (1997–1999) and the Denver Nuggets (1997)—as of 1999, Cotton's NBA status is "Unrestricted Free Agent".^[99][100]
• Joe Danelo: Former kicker for the Washington Cougars and the New York Giants, who, as of 2011, had raised three sons in San Pedro where he was working as a foreman on the city's docks.^[101][102]
• Mario Danelo: Record-setting ex-placekicker for the 2006 National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) national champions, USC Trojans. Danelo fell to his death at the cliffs near Point Fermin lighthouse in early-2007.^[103][104]
• Gary Gabelich (1940–1984): Born in San Pedro, Gebelich achieved a place in the Guinness Book of World Records for a world land speed record of 622.287 miles per hour (1,001.474 km/h) at Bonneville Salt Flats, Utah, US on October 23, 1970—he was driving his rocket-powered "Blue Flame" vehicle. The record remained unbeaten until 1983.^[105]
• Bob Gross: Starting small forward for the Portland Trail Blazers in the 1977 NBA championship.^[106]
• Brian Harper: The former starting baseball catcher for the 1991 World Champions, the Minnesota Twins was born in Los Angeles, California, but attended high school in San Pedro.^[107]
• Dennis Johnson: Boston Celtic basketball player (guard) during the 1970s and 1980s who was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2010. Born in Compton, California, he was discovered playing in local leagues in San Pedro—Johnson passed away in 2007.^[108]
• Richard Johnson: The 1984 USFL Receiver of the Year who played for the Houston Gamblers attended San Pedro High School.^[109]
• Ed Jurak: Utility infielder for the Boston Red Sox during the 1970s and 1980s who attended San Pedro High School.^[110]
• Garry Maddox: Eight-time Golden Glove-winner and starting center-fielder for the 1980 World Champions, the Philadelphia Phillies.^[111]
• Haven Moses: Former starting wide receiver for the Denver Broncos in the 1970s who completed 116 catches in his first four full seasons. Moses remained with the Broncos until his retirement in 1981 and appeared in two Super Bowls, one of which was the Super Bowl XII versus the Dallas Cowboys.^[112] Moses attended the San Pedro school Fermin de Lasuen Catholic High.^[113]
• Willie Naulls: former University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) basketball player who was a power forward/center for the New York Knicks and Boston Celtics. Naulls was a four-time National Basketball Association (NBA) All-Star, won three NBA Championships with the Celtics in the 1960s, and was the first African-American captain in the history of integrated professional sports. At the age of nine years, Naulls' family relocated to a government housing project in San Pedro.^[114]
• Robb Nen: Former relief pitcher for the Texas Rangers, Florida Marlins, and San Francisco Giants. Nen's birthplace is San Pedro.^[115]
• Angela Nikodinov: Finished third at the 2001 U.S. figure skating championships and fifth at the world championships.^[116] San Pedro is her listed as Nikodinov's hometown.^[117]
• Norm Schachter: Deceased longtime Super Bowl referee for the National Football League (NFL) who refereed the first Super Bowl match. Schachter died in a San Pedro convalescence home.^[118]
• Tim Wrightman: Former UCLA star and starting tight end (TE) for the champions of the 1985 Super Bowl XX, the Chicago Bears. Wrightman was known as San Pedro's "Golden Boy".^[119]
• Petros Papadakis: Sports broadcaster who started the daily show Petros & Money on the AM 570/Fox Sports station in 2007. Papadakis, who is a regular college football commentator on Fox Sports Net and whosted Spike TV’s Pros vs. Joes, was born in San Pedro.^[120]

Writers and poets [edit]

• Louis Adamic (1899–1951): Slovenian-American novelist who frequently wrote about the city of Los Angeles. Adamic settled in San Pedro after serving in World War I and worked as a watchman in the office of the harbor pilot during the 1920s.^[121]
• Richard Armour: Poet and author who wrote over sixty books. Armour was born in San Pedro and died of Parkinson's disease.^[122]
• Charles Bukowski: Author and poet who lived in San Pedro during his later years.^[123] Bukowski in interviewed in his Sam Pedro home for the 2004 documentary Bukowski: Born Into This^[124] and stated in a 1987 interview with film critic Roger Ebert: "San Pedro is real quiet. It used to be a seaport full of whorehouses and bars. I like the quietness. They ask you how you're doing, they really want to know."^[125]
• Richard Henry Dana, Jr.: Author of the famous memoir Two Years Before the Mast. Dana was not a resident, but was a famous visitor to San Pedro who wrote about the experience in his memoir and San Pedro's first middle school is named after him:"Two days brought us to San Pedro, and two days more (to our no small joy) gave us our last view of that place, which was universally called the hell of California and seemed designed in every way for the wear and tear of sailors. Not even the last view could bring out one feeling of regret. No thanks, thought I, as we left the hated shores in the distance, for the hours I have walked over your stones barefooted, with hides on my head, – for the burdens I have carried up your steep, muddy hill, --for the duckings in your surf; and for the long days and longer nights passed on your desolate hill, watching piles of hides, hearing the sharp bark of your eternal coyotes, and the dismal hooting of your owls." – excerpt from Two Years Before the Mast (at the time, a dock did not exist in San Pedro and stock was loaded onto smaller boats and rowed ashore).^[126][127]
• Jeanne Wakatsuki Houston: Author of the popular memoir Farewell to Manzanar on the internment of Japanese-Americans during World War II. Wakatsuki Houston 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
• Louis L'Amour: Western fiction writer L'Amour chronicled some of his San Pedro beach experiences in the 1980 book Yondering: "The worst times were when he was "on the beach" – on shore, in San Pedro, California, between ships and broke. "I slept in boxcars and under piles of lumber, and took jobs no one else wanted. I was 18 and looked 24. There were several times I went three and four days without eating. I didn't beg or steal, just went without. I'd like to recover for my readers what it's really like to be hungry. I have a penchant for stories about survival, lessons in survival. I've been a survivor most of my life."^[128]
• Scott O'Dell (1898–1989): Deceased author of young adult literature, O'Dell 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."^[129]
• John Shannon: Author of the "Jack Liffey" series of noir thrillers who grew up in San Pedro: "It was interesting. San Pedro may have been the last great place to grow up in the L.A. area – a harbor, a real sense of community, a real Left, even a literary history: Charles Bukowski, Louis Adamic, even Richard Henry Dana stayed [here] for a time. I could ride the ferry across to Terminal Island, hang out at the docks, walk down the harbor among the commercial fishing boats with old Sicilians and Croatians mending their nets, catch crawdads in Averill Park."^[130]

Film and television [edit]

• Tony Scott: Producer, director, actor, cinematographer, writer, and editor. On August 19, 2012, Scott committed suicide at the age of sixty-eight years by jumping off the Vincent Thomas Bridge in the San Pedro port district.^[131]
• Robert Towne: Four-time Academy Award-winning writer, director, producer, and actor who was raised in San Pedro where he worked as a tuna fisherman. Towne's body of work includes screenplays for the films Chinatown (1974), Mission: Impossible (1996), Mission: Impossible II (2000), The Last Detail (1973), Shampoo (1975), The Firm (1993), and Greystoke: The Legend of Tarzan, Lord of the Apes (1984).^[132] The Writers Guild of America, West recently ranked Chinatown, behind Casablanca and The Godfather, as the third greatest English language screenplay of all time.^[133]

Organized crime [edit]

• Joe "Pegleg" Morgan: The former head of a Mexican Mafia prison gang, Morgan was born in San Pedro, before he moved to East Los Angeles as a teenager. During the 1960s, he was the link between the Mexican Mafia and the West Coast Italian crime syndicates.^[134] The character "JD", in the 1992 Edward James Olmos movie American Me, was based on Morgan.^[135]

Press [edit]

Random Lengths News started publishing in San Pedro in 1979 and now continues to be the last newspaper published there. It covers politics, local news, arts and culture for the seven communities that surround the San Pedro Bay. The paper has been continuously published by James Preston Allen since its inception.Random Lengths News has published continuously for nearly 35 years. The current bi-monthly format was introduced in 1985. Random Lengths News has taken on the role of local watchdog over Port expansion, city government , land use and civil rights. Random Lengths News founders intentionally mirrored San Pedro's local ties to the progressive movement of the 1930s.^[136] The San Pedro News-Pilot, long the area's daily newspaper, ceased publishing in 1998. The News-Pilot traced its history back to 1906; it was created from the merge of the San Pedro Daily News and the San Pedro Pilot. Some of the staff of the N-P were hired by the South Bay Daily Breeze; still covering San Pedro is former News-Pilot reporter Donna Littlejohn. An online community news and social network, called SanPedroNewsPilot.com, is not connected to the original newspaper of a similar name. In 2002, the Long Beach Press-Telegram launched the monthly publication San Pedro Magazine serving the San Pedro and Rancho Palos Verdes areas. San Pedro Magazine was cancelled in December 2008 after the Press-Telegram eliminated their magazine department. In January 2009, a new independently-owned monthly magazine called San Pedro Today^[137] debuted. Other papers available for subscription or purchase include The South Bay newspaper Daily Breeze although they mainly cover news from Torrance and the South Bay cities. In 2003, it created a weekly, More San Pedro, in the San Pedro Harbor Area. More San Pedro was cancelled in 2008 after the Breeze was purchased and subsequently gutted by MediaNews Group.the Los Angeles Times and the Long Beach Press-Telegram.

See also [edit]

Los Angeles portal

• List of Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monuments in the Harbor area
• Palos Verdes Peninsula Land Conservancy

References [edit]

External links [edit]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: San Pedro, Los Angeles

• San Pedro Web Site
• Port of Los Angeles
• Japanese Immigrants at Terminal Island
• Japanese Immigrants at White Point
• Furasato: The lost Village of Terminal Island
• [7] Comments about living in San Pedro
• [8] San Pedro crime map and statistics

	Rancho Palos Verdes	Harbor City, Los Angeles	Wilmington, Los Angeles
	Rancho Palos Verdes		Port of Los Angeles & Port of Long Beach & Long Beach
		San Pedro
	Pacific Ocean	Pacific Ocean	Pacific Ocean

v t e Harbor Area, Los Angeles Districts and neighborhoods Harbor City Harbor Gateway San Pedro Terminal Island Wilmington Points of interest Cabrillo Marine Aquarium Port of Los Angeles Vincent Thomas Bridge Neighboring cities and communities Carson Long Beach Rancho Palos Verdes Rolling Hills Rolling Hills Estates Torrance LA Regions Crescenta Valley Downtown Eastside Harbor Area Greater Hollywood Northeast Los Angeles Northwest Los Angeles San Fernando Valley South Los Angeles Westside Wilshire Mid-City West Mid-Wilshire LA navigation boxes City of Los Angeles Downtown Eastside/Northeast Harbor Area Greater Hollywood Northwest of Downtown San Fernando and Crescenta Valleys South Los Angeles Westside Wilshire