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San Pedro in Los Angeles in Los Angeles County, California — The American West (Pacific Coastal)
 

Municipal Ferry Building

Los Angeles Maritime Museum

 
 
Municipal Ferry Building Marker image. Click for full size.
Photographed By Craig Baker, 2017
1. Municipal Ferry Building Marker
Inscription.
Municipal Ferry Building – 1941.
Linked San Pedro and Terminal Island.
Maritime Museum since 1979.
Declared Historic-Cultural Monument No. 146 by the Cultural Heritage Commission, Cultural Affairs Department, City of Los Angeles.
 
Erected 1975 by City of Los Angeles. (Marker Number 146.)
 
Topics and series. This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: Asian AmericansIndustry & CommerceNotable PlacesWaterways & Vessels. In addition, it is included in the Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monument series list. A significant historical year for this entry is 1941.
 
Location. 33° 44.314′ N, 118° 16.731′ W. Marker is in Los Angeles, California, in Los Angeles County. It is in San Pedro. Marker is at the intersection of Sampson Way and East 6th Street, on the left when traveling south on Sampson Way. Marker is on the west exterior wall near the main entrance to the Maritime Museum. Touch for map. Marker is at or near this postal address: 600 Sampson Way, Berth 84, San Pedro CA 90731, United States of America. Touch for directions.
 
Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within walking distance of this marker. World War II Memorial: Propeller from Heavy Cruiser U.S.S. Canberra CA-70/CAG-2 (within shouting distance of this marker); Anna Lee Fisher - Astronaut (within shouting distance of this marker);
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American Merchant Marine Veterans Memorial (within shouting distance of this marker); American Merchant Marine Veterans Memorial Wall of Honor (about 300 feet away, measured in a direct line); U.S.S. Los Angeles (about 400 feet away); In Memory of Bloody Thursday (about 400 feet away); San Pedro Municipal Building (about 500 feet away); Harry Bridges Memorial (about 500 feet away). Touch for a list and map of all markers in Los Angeles.
 
Regarding Municipal Ferry Building.
Text from the interior exhibit in Photo 4:
Terminal Island.
Terminal Island forms the eastern side of the main channel of Los Angeles Harbor. When the ferry buildings opened in 1941, there were around 3,000 residents and almost 100 businesses operating on the island.
The majority of residents on Terminal Island were Japanese-American fisherman and cannery workers who lived near Fish Harbor where the fishing boats docked. The neighborhood had shops, restaurants and offices of doctors, lawyers and dentists, and an elementary school.
Home No More.
After Japan attacked
Municipal Ferry Building and Marker image. Click for full size.
Photographed By Craig Baker, 2017
2. Municipal Ferry Building and Marker
The marker is behind the propeller.
Pearl Harbor in December 1941, many Americans viewed Japanese Americans as the enemy. In February 1942, President Roosevelt signed Executive Order 9066 relocating all Japanese-Americans living on the West Coast to camps far inland. After the war the residents of Terminal Island returned to find their neighborhoods had been demolished. Some moved to nearby communities and continued fishing and working in the canneries in San Pedro. Others moved away and began new lives.
“Before”.
Since the 1870s there had been regular ferry service to Terminal. Starting in 1915, there was a “team ferry” that could take 10 horse drawn carriages or cars between 1st Street in San Pedro and Ferry Street on Terminal Island. By 1940 growing numbers of commuters had outgrown the “TF”, as it was known, and residents and business owners began advocating for the city to create its own ferry service. When the municipal ferry began running in 1941 the older passenger ferries served only at night.

photo captions:
The “TF” ready to cross the channel, ca. 1919.
The “ACI” leaving Terminal Island for San Pedro, ca. 1937.
The “TF” preparing to leave Terminal Island. Some of the people on board may be starting a day of work.

Seventy years ago this building opened as the new ferry terminal in Los Angeles Harbor. For the next 22 years, the ferry took people between
Municipal Ferry Building - 1941 image. Click for full size.
circa 1941
3. Municipal Ferry Building - 1941
Note ferry crossing the channel from the other, now-demolished ferry building, warships in background, and Pacific Electric interurban "Red Cars" in foreground.
San Pedro and Terminal Island for work, school, shopping and fun. The ferry service provided a vital link between the two parts of the community.
With the opening of the Vincent Thomas Bridge in 1963, the ferry was no longer needed. In 1980 after a community campaign, the building was refurbished and opened as the Los Angeles Maritime Museum.
Today as you walk through the building you will travel the path of thousands of cannery workers, longshoremen and sailors who walked up the ramp thinking of the work day ahead and walked down it thinking of the evening with family and friends to come.
 
Also see . . .
1. Los Angeles Maritime Museum. (Submitted on February 12, 2012, by Richard E. Miller of Oxon Hill, Maryland.)
2. The Lost Village of Terminal Island. (Submitted on February 12, 2012, by Richard E. Miller of Oxon Hill, Maryland.)
 
Inside the Maritime Museum image. Click for full size.
Photographed By Richard E. Miller, December 8, 2011
4. Inside the Maritime Museum
Histories of Ferry Boats and Terminal Island.
L.A. Maritime Museum image. Click for full size.
Photographed By Wknight94, August 10, 2006
5. L.A. Maritime Museum
The former Municipal Ferry Building and downtown San Pedro viewed from a cruise ship in the harbor channel, 2006.
National Register of Historic Places image. Click for full size.
Photographed By Richard E. Miller, December 8, 2011
6. National Register of Historic Places
 
 
Credits. This page was last revised on May 24, 2023. It was originally submitted on February 12, 2012, by Richard E. Miller of Oxon Hill, Maryland. This page has been viewed 1,145 times since then and 19 times this year. Photos:   1, 2. submitted on June 12, 2021, by Craig Baker of Sylmar, California.   3, 4, 5, 6. submitted on February 12, 2012, by Richard E. Miller of Oxon Hill, Maryland. • Syd Whittle was the editor who published this page.

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Mar. 19, 2024