San Pedro Sites

Following the 1933 Long Beach earthquake, 15th Street Elementary School in San Pedro, CA was rebuilt with funding from the Public Works Administration (PWA). Reconstruction of the main school building—which combines elements of PWA Moderne and Mission Revival styles—was completed in 1935 and totaled $68,305. The reconstruction and renovation of Los Angeles schools damaged by the 1933 Long Beach earthquake was the single largest PWA funded program in the country, totaling ~$34.7 million (LA Times, May 23, 1937).  It was overseen by the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) and proceeded in two cycles, 1934-35 and 1935-37. The first cycle began in...

Bandini Street Elementary School, which opened in 1923, was renovated with funding from the Public Works Administration (PWA) between 1934 and 1935. Built by Arthur Pinner Jr, the two-story building faces onto N Bandini St and combines elements of PWA Moderne and Spanish Revival styles (note the tile roof and half-moon windows). The reconstruction and renovation of Los Angeles schools damaged by the 1933 Long Beach earthquake was the single largest PWA funded program in the country, totaling ~$34.7 million (LA Times, May 23, 1937).  It was overseen by the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) and proceeded in two cycles, 1934-35...

In 1942-43, the federal government constructed five temporary wartime defense housing projects operated by the Housing Authority of Los Angeles (HACLA) under the Lanham Act of 1940 for $13.5 million. Considered one of the largest in San Pedro, Banning Homes was built by the Federal Public Housing Authority (FPHA) for war workers in the San Pedro harbor area in 1943. With the military and the United States Housing Authority (USHA) merging housing efforts into the FPHA as the U.S. entered World War II in early 1942, Banning Homes was partially started as a New Deal project. Banning Homes, half a mile...

Barton Hill Elementary School in San Pedro, CA was rebuilt following the 1933 Long Beach earthquake with funding from the Public Works Administration (PWA). In 1936, the two-story PWA Moderne structures on N Pacific Ave and W Oliver St were built for a total of $104,928. They were designed by architect Clement B. Lewis and built by Pacific Realty & Building Company. In addition, the pedestrian tunnel beneath N Pacific Ave was likely constructed with New Deal funding. The first of the city's 200-plus pedestrian tunnels were built in the 1920s to prevent traffic violence by providing children with safe access...

In 1936, the Federal Art Project partially funded the creation of a statue of Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo by sculptor Henry Lion at Cabrillo Beach in San Pedro, CA. The city provided the funding for the cost of materials, while the Federal Art Project paid for the labor. Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo was a Portuguese explorer and the first European to reach the coast of California in 1542.

In 1942-43, the federal government constructed five temporary wartime defense housing projects operated by the Housing Authority of Los Angeles (HACLA) under the Lanham Act of 1940 for $13.5 million. Originally planned as the Amity Village low-income public housing project for Compton as early as 1941, Channel Heights was instead built by the Federal Public Housing Authority (FPHA) in San Pedro for LA harbor warworkers in 1943. With the military and the United States Housing Authority (USHA) merging housing efforts into the FPHA as the U.S. entered World War II in early 1942, Channel Heights was partially started as a...

Dana Middle School in San Pedro, CA is home to two oil-on-canvas murals entitled "Life and Travels of Richard Henry Dana, Jr." The murals, by Adrien Machefert, were funded by the WPA Federal Art Project (FAP) in 1938. They hang on the north and south ends of the school's cafeteria and depict scenes of early San Pedro inspired by Dana's "Two Years Before the Mast," the account of an upper class New Englander's life as a seaman on a voyage to California in the 1830s.

The Federal Building and Post Office in San Pedro, CA, was built in 1936 by the Department of the Treasury. It also formerly served as a U.S. Customs Office. The design is a good example of the Moderne style of architecture. The extensive use of marble, bronze and milk glass are typical of the Art Deco style of decoration of the time. The basket weave pattern of floor tile surrounded by black marble gives the effect of rugs on a marble floor. Some of the original bronze lamps and ink wells survive at the public writing desks. The mural at the south...

Leland Street Elementary School in San Pedro, CA was rebuilt following the 1933 Long Beach earthquake with funding from the Public Works Administration (PWA). In 1935, the buildings facing Leland and W 22nd Streets were remodeled for a total of $73,250. Both PWA Moderne structures survive. The reconstruction and renovation of Los Angeles schools damaged by the 1933 Long Beach earthquake was the single largest PWA funded program in the country, totaling ~$34.7 million (LA Times, May 23, 1937).  It was overseen by the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) and proceeded in two cycles, 1934-35 and 1935-37. The first cycle began...

Today's Los Angeles Maritime Museum is housed in the former Municipal Ferry Terminal building at Berth 84 in San Pedro, CA. Built by the Work Projects Administration (WPA) in 1941, the Streamline Moderne structure was designed by Los Angeles Harbor Department architect Derwood Lydell Irvin. Both the Municipal Ferry Terminal building and its sister—across the Los Angeles Harbor Main Channel at Berth 234—were in operation from 1941 to 1963, serving hundreds of thousands of passengers commuting between San Pedro and Terminal Island. The ferry became obsolete with the opening of the Vincent Thomas Bridge in 1963. After stints housing harbor department employees...

In 1934, the Public Works Administration (PWA), completed a municipal fish market in San Pedro, CA. An article in the Illustrated Daily News noted the project employed 130 to 170 men for 10 months. The Mission Revival style building exists today and provides fish wholesale to businesses and to the public early Saturday mornings from 3:30 to 7:30am.  

In 1934, the Public Works Administration (PWA), constructed a passenger and general cargo in San Pedro, CA. The passenger terminal at the Port of Los Angeles includes a reinforced concrete wharf and a transit shed measuring 120 by 440 feet, offering 26,000 square feet of covered space for cargo. Passenger traffic is kept separate from cargo handling and trucking operations by an 18-foot-wide elevated corridor located on the side of the terminal facing the ships. A motorized, adjustable passenger landing stage and gangplank provides a direct connection between the vessels and the corridor. The fruit terminal, mainly used for unloading...

Following the 1933 Long Beach earthquake, Point Fermin Elementary School in San Pedro, CA was rebuilt with funding from the Public Works Administration (PWA). Construction totaled $79,529 and was completed 1935-36. Few alterations appear to have been made to the school's exterior since the New Deal. Today, Point Fermin Elementary is a Marine Science STEAM Magnet. Pacific Realty & Building Company reconstructed the 1919 and 1924 sections of the main building in 1935. The following year, the auditorium was reconstructed by Contracting Engineers Inc according to designs by architect Paul J. Duncan. Located at the corner of S Kerckhoff Ave and...

Point Fermin Park in San Pedro, CA, was improved with funding from the Reconstruction Finance Corporation (RFC) between 1932 and 1933. According to the Los Angeles Board of Park Commissioners 1932-33 Annual Report, "Twenty one hundred and thirty lineal feet of new walks were built, and lined with redwood curbing. In putting in these walks we had to move 2,882 cubic yards of dirt and 984 cubic yards was moved in general grading over approximately three acres. Seventy-seven hundred and fifty lineal feet of new water system was installed, and 1,739 lineal feet of stone wall built using rocks on the property....

Artist Fletcher Martin painted the mural "Mail Transportation" at the Post Office in San Pedro, CA, between 1937 and 1938. The project began under the auspices of the Treasury Section of Painting and Sculpture (1934-1938) but may have been completed under the Treasury Section of Fine Arts (1938-1939). Mounted at the southern end of the main post office gallery, the oil-on-canvas mural illustrates how mail is transported across the world no matter the conditions, while also alluding to the heritage of nearby Los Angeles Harbor. The mural was restored in the 1970s by Jose-Luis Gonzalez.

Rancho San Pedro was one of the developments in Los Angeles, CA completed under the city’s New Deal–era public housing program. In 1941-43, the Housing Authority of the City of Los Angeles (HACLA) constructed 10 public housing developments for $16 million, funded 10% by city bonds and 90% by federal loans from the United States Housing Authority (USHA). Located in the industrial district of San Pedro, Rancho San Pedro was completed in 1942. To make way for the 12.5-acre development, 80 residences (69 of which were deemed “substandard”) were demolished by July 1941. Construction of 33 concrete-and-frame structures comprising 285 dwelling...

Allen Field, later called Reeves Field, was built in 1927 as a 410-acre civilian airport on Terminal Island. The U.S. Navy begin using Allen Field in the same year as a Naval Air Reserve Training Facility. In 1935, the Navy took complete control of Allen Field, renamed it Reeves Field, and, in 1936, designated it as a Naval Air Base. In 1938, the Works Progress Administration (WPA) and the Harbor Department developed Reeves Field for the United States Fleet and elevated it to "Fleet Air Base, San Pedro." The work done by the WPA included 9200 lineal feet of plane runways, a...

San Pedro High School in San Pedro, CA was renovated with funding from the Public Works Administration (PWA) in 1936-37. Designed by architect Gordon B. Kaufmann, new Streamline Moderne buildings were constructed of poured-in-place concrete. In 1936, a second-story was added on to the home economics building for a total of $26,499. Attached via breezeway to the Administration building, the home ec building survives on W 15th St. The following year, a gym and auditorium were constructed. The contractor was Charles W. Pettifer and the total cost $261,085. The auditorium is extant on S Leland St. The gym also appears to survive...

This series of nine oil-on-canvas murals, collectively titled "Industrial Life in San Pedro," by Federal Art Project (FAP) artist Tyrone Comfort is located in the library at San Pedro High School in San Pedro, CA. Completed in 1937, the nine murals are "Hauling the Cargo," "Fisherman in Port," "The Riveters," "Refinery Maintenance," "Opening the Valves," "The Propeller Crew," "Loading the Harvest," "Construction Workers," and "The Drillers." They were restored and preserved by the Los Angeles Unified School District Historic Schools Investment Fund in 2008. Comfort's other FAP works in the region include two murals, "Printing" and "Science and Industry" (1936), at John...

In 1937, Ross Dickinson completed a four-panel mural at San Pedro High School in San Pedro, CA. He received funding from the Federal Art Project (FAP). Dickinson's other New Deal works—all in Los Angeles, CA—include two murals, “A Valley in California” and “Mankind’s Achievements" (1934), at George Washington Preparatory High School; a pair of tile mosaics (1936) at Thomas Starr King Middle School; and a mural, “History of the Recorded Word” (1937), at Thomas Jefferson High School. Also located at San Pedro High School is a series of murals by FAP artist Tyrone Comfort. Titled "Industrial Life in San Pedro," these murals...

Built by the Work Projects Administration (WPA) in 1941, the Berth 234 Terminal Island ferry building in San Pedro, CA, was designed by Los Angeles Harbor Department architect Derwood Lydell Irvin. Along with its sister—the Municipal Ferry Terminal building at Berth 84 across the Los Angeles Harbor Main Channel—the Terminal Island ferry building was in operation from 1941 to 1963, serving hundreds of thousands of passengers commuting between San Pedro and Terminal Island. The ferry became obsolete with the opening of the Vincent Thomas Bridge in 1963. Although the Terminal Island structure was demolished in 1972, its counterpart survives as the Los...

According to an article in the Illustrated Daily News, as part of a group of 8 federally funded projects was "No. 6 - Relocation of tracks around west basin, $1,470,000; will employ 210 to 300 men for from 18 to 20 months."

The Public Works Administration (PWA) constructed a sewer system at White Point in San Pedro, CA.