National Register of Historic Places

San Pedro Municipal Ferry Building

San Pedro, Los Angeles County, California
Listed
April 11, 1996
Type
Building
Period
Industrial
Ref No.
96000392

About this property

San Pedro Municipal Ferry Building is a former Los Angeles Harbor Department ferry terminal building located at Sixth Street at Harbor Boulevard in the community of San Pedro in Los Angeles, California. The historic landmark building now houses the Los Angeles Maritime Museum. The Municipal Ferry Building was built in 1941 as a Works Project Administration (WPA) project, built at Berth 84. It was designed in the Streamline Moderne style by architect Derwood Lydell Irvin of the Los Angeles Harbor Department. It has a five-story octagonal clock tower. Its "sister ferry terminal" was across the main channel at Berth 234, also Irvin designed in the Streamline Moderne and built by the WPA in 1941. It was a working ferry terminal from 1941 to 1963, for the ferry connecting San Pedro and Terminal Island in the Los Angeles Harbor. During those years, the double-decked ferries "Islander" and "Ace" transported thousands of passengers and automobiles to and from the tuna canneries, docks, shipyards, and military bases on Terminal Island. In 1963, the Vincent Thomas Bridge was completed, connecting mainland San Pedro to Terminal Island, and the ferry service became obsolete. The ferry service was terminated on 14 November, and the bridge opened on 15 November. The San Pedro terminal building was used for many years as an office building by the Los Angeles Harbor Department. The ferry terminal building on the Terminal Island side was demolished in 1972 to expand cargo operations. As the ferry building began to deteriorate, citizens of San Pedro sought to have it restored. They succeeded in having the building designated as a Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monument (no. 146) in 1975. Beginning in 1976 the building was restored (exterior) and remodeled (interior) into the Los Angeles Maritime Museum, which opened in 1979. It is the largest maritime museum on the West Coast. The building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1996. Both the exterior and interior of the Municipal Ferry Building were featured in the 1947 film The Street With No Name. List of Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monuments in the Harbor area National Register of Historic Places in Los Angeles Big Orange Landmarks Blog: Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monument No. 146 — Municipal Ferry Building — with images. LAPL.org: "History of the Los Angeles Maritime Museum"

Location

San Pedro, Los Angeles County, California
33.73833, -118.27861

Categories

MARITIME HISTORYTRANSPORTATIONARCHITECTURE
National Register nomination ›
Sources

Property data from the National Register of Historic Places, National Park Service (public domain).

Description adapted from Wikipedia under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

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Nearby Historic Sites

US Post Office-San Pedro Main
Industrial
0.2 mi
RALPH J. SCOTT
Industrial
0.2 mi
Warner Brothers Theatre
Industrial
0.8 mi
S.S. CATALINA
Industrial
0.8 mi
LANE VICTORY
Industrial
1.2 mi

Nearby Battles

Drum Barracks – Los Angeles Union Garrison
1862Civil War
3.9 mi
Battle of Dominguez Rancho
1846Mexican-American War
8.7 mi

Questions about this property

When was San Pedro Municipal Ferry Building listed on the National Register?

San Pedro Municipal Ferry Building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on April 11, 1996.

What type of historic resource is San Pedro Municipal Ferry Building?

San Pedro Municipal Ferry Building is classified as a building in the National Register of Historic Places.

What is the period of significance for San Pedro Municipal Ferry Building?

The period of significance for San Pedro Municipal Ferry Building is recorded as the industrial era.

Can I research the history near San Pedro Municipal Ferry Building?

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