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United States Navy Landing, Long Beach, California

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United States Navy Landing, Long Beach, California

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Identifier	clloy_095
Title	United States Navy Landing, Long Beach, California
Creator	Unknown
Date Published	1932-1945?
Subject (Topic)	Harbors--California--Long Beach; Oil wells--California--Long Beach;
Subject (Name)	United States--Navy; United States--Navy--Boats;
Subject (Place)	Long Beach (Calif.); Signal Hill (Calif.);
Type	image
Form/Genre	Postcards
Physical Description	1 postcard : Color ; 9 x 14 cm.
Institution	Department of Archives and Special Collections, William H. Hannon Library, Loyola Marymount University
Country of Creation	US
Copyright Status	public domain
Copyright Statement	http://library.lmu.edu/generalinformation/departments/digitallibraryprogram/copyrightandreproductionpolicy/
Publisher	Longshaw Card Co.
Place of Publication	Los Angeles, Calif.
Language	eng
Description	A view along the waterfront, showing a row of boats tied up at the docks. On the right is a covered structure where crowds of onlookers wait for the sailors to disembark. The oil wells on Signal Hill are visible in the distance.
Historical Background	Before 1866, most of what is now Long Beach was part of two ranchos: Los Cerritos and Los Alamitos. By the 1880s portions of Rancho Los Cerritos were sold, subdivided and developed under the name of Willmore City by William Willmore. By 1888, the population had voted to incorporate the city and rename it the City of Long Beach. Although Long Beach was not officially designated as a port until 1932, the Navy began anchoring its ships there as early as 1919. As an enticement for the Navy and the economic benefits they brought to the city, Long Beach built its own Navy Landing in the inner harbor in 1926. By 1927, Long Beach was the home port to a battle fleet and 1,500 officers and sailors. In 1932, the city was officially chosen as the home anchorage for about 50 ships in the Pacific Fleet, and a new $80,000 Navy Landing was built at the foot of Pico Street. In 1921, oil was discovered on Signal Hill, originally part of Long Beach. By April 1922, Signal Hill was covered with 108 wells. The city incorporated in 1924 in order to avoid Long Beach's heavy tax on oil.
Additional Printed Matter	On back: "Shore leave begins at Navy Landing in Long Beach, which is home port to a large part of the United States Fleet in the Pacific waters."
Publisher's Identifier	Series number: 221
Additional Notes	Printed on linen textured paper.
Source	Werner von Boltenstern Postcard Collection