Terminal Island

Terminal Island

Terminal Island, also called Isla Raza de Buena Gente, is an island made by people. It is in Los Angeles County, California. The island sits between the neighborhoods of Wilmington and San Pedro in Los Angeles, and next to the city of Long Beach.

Most of Terminal Island is used for jobs like factories and ports. Some parts belong to the Port of Los Angeles and the Port of Long Beach. One special spot on Terminal Island is home to the Federal Correctional Institution, Terminal Island, which is important for the area.

History

Before World War II

Terminal Island was first called Isla Raza de Buena Gente by the Spanish and later Rattlesnake Island. It got its current name in 1891. In 1909, the Southern California Edison Company chose this spot to build a new power plant. Construction began in 1910.

Over time, the island grew larger. In 1909, Los Angeles took control of the nearby area of Wilmington. A man named Phineas Banning owned land here and helped develop the area. In the late 1920s, material from another island was used to add more land to Terminal Island.

In 1930, Ford Motor Company opened a factory here, but it moved away in 1958. In 1927, a field called Allen Field was created, and soon after, the Naval Reserve began using it for training. It later became Naval Air Base San Pedro.

Japanese American fishing community

Starting in 1906, Japanese American families settled on Terminal Island and built a strong community. They fished and worked in canneries, and created their own traditions and language. They faced unfair treatment and were later forced to leave during World War II.

World War II and beyond

During World War II, Terminal Island became a key place for building ships. It was also where African Americans sought opportunities in defense jobs. Many important ships were built here.

After the war, a famous airplane called the Spruce Goose was moved here for its first flight in 1947. A race track opened in 1974 but closed in 1995. Efforts are ongoing to preserve the island's history, including buildings linked to the old Japanese fishing village.

Current use

The west half of Terminal Island is part of the San Pedro area of Los Angeles, while the rest belongs to the city of Long Beach. The island covers an area of 11.56 km² (4.46 sq mi), and had a population of 1,467 in the year 2000.

The Port of Los Angeles and the Port of Long Beach own most of the land, renting it for places to load and unload big ships. The island also has old fish canning factories, ship repair places, and facilities for the United States Coast Guard.

There is a special building called the Federal Correctional Institution, Terminal Island that opened in 1938. It houses over 900 people who are serving short sentences.

An old shipyard that closed in 1997 used to take up half the island. Today, a company named SpaceX is renting a small part of the island to work on their big rocket plans. This rocket is too big to move over land, so it will travel by ship through the Panama Canal to places like Florida or Texas. This area was used for building ships from 1918 until it stopped being used in 2005.

Bridges

Terminal Island is connected to the mainland by four bridges. The green Vincent Thomas Bridge in the west is one of California's longest suspension bridges. It links the island to the Los Angeles neighborhood of San Pedro. To the east, the Long Beach International Gateway is the longest cable-stayed bridge in California. It connects the island to downtown Long Beach. The Commodore Schuyler F. Heim Bridge links Terminal Island to the Los Angeles neighborhood of Wilmington in the north. Near the Heim Bridge is a rail bridge called the Henry Ford Bridge, also known as the Badger Avenue Bridge.

In media and popular culture

Terminal Island has appeared in many books, TV shows, and video games. It is in the science fiction book Snow Crash by Neal Stephenson and in TV shows like Visiting...with Huell Howser. The island is also a place in The Terror: Infamy, The Fast and the Furious, Need for Speed, and the video game Grand Theft Auto V, where it is named the Port of South Los Santos.