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Los Angeles Harbor at San Pedro: Two Panoramas, 1908 and 1926

Owning Institution: UC Berkeley, Bancroft Library

About this Collection

The Two Panoramas of the Los Angeles Harbor at San Pedro album contains two 8-plate panorama photographs of the Los Angeles Harbor, one taken in 1908, the other in 1926. Both panoramas picture the same section of the harbor, and were taken from the same Wilmington location. Regarded together, the panoramas illustrate the considerable overall urban expansion which took place during the early decades of the twentieth century in a location which would become one of the largest port areas in the nation. The 1908 panorama shows a practically undeveloped expanse of water, marshland, and distant hills, traversed by a single railroad line, with a few unidentified buildings scattered throughout. The 1926 panorama shows a thriving harbor area, replete with industrial and commercial activity and, in the distance, much residential development. Businesses pictured in the 1926 panorama include the Los Angeles Yacht Club, Union Oil, Southern Pacific Creosoteing Plant, Wilmington Boat Works, Panama Mail Steamship Company, Fellows & Stewart Boat Builders, Santa Catalina Island Steamer Terminal, Pacific Coast Borax Company, and General Petroleum Corporation. Pictured in the distance of the same panorama is the community of San Pedro and the Signal Hill oil fields.... View this collection on the contributor's website.
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